


Reaping 101

by RoseFromTheDark



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, F/M, M/M, Modern Fantasy, Taako and Kravitz are roommates, There's Magic and also TV and Mario Kart, blupjeans, taakitz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-06-30 07:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15747411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseFromTheDark/pseuds/RoseFromTheDark
Summary: Kravitz goes undercover as a student at Faerun's Academy for the Magical and Non-Magical Arts to hunt down a pair of rogue liches for the Raven Queen. Things get a little complicated when he starts to fall for his roommate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into writing TAZ fic and I'm super excited! This is a college au, but with a healthy dose of magic and anachronistic fantasy. I plan to update weekly. Thanks for checking it out!

Some love stories begin with grandiose, romantic gestures, exclamations of love so loud that they can be heard across continents, across time. Some love stories begin small, the meet-cute in the coffee shop, blossoming into something shyly sweet. And some love stories begin by walking in on your new college roommate as he hangs glittering posters wearing only a mesh shirt and hot pink booty shorts. Though Kravitz didn’t know it yet and would have never expected it, this was the start of his love story.

What Kravitz was thinking, as he walked into his new dorm room, dragging a large suitcase and carrying a box of essentials, was whether or not there had been a mistake in the admissions office. Surely his roommate couldn’t be named _Taako Taaco_ ; that wasn’t a name, that was a Tex Mex restaurant with several health code violations. Needless to say, Kravitz was surprised on many levels when he walked into the room to see that one half was already occupied by a slim elf in a neon outfit with several more neon outfits exploding out of his wardrobe, covering every inch of wall space above his bed and desk with posters of what looked like impractically dressed fashion models. As Kravitz crossed the threshold, his suitcase trundling loudly over the door jamb, the elf turned to look at him.

“Hey, my dude,” said the elf, with a wide, gap-toothed smile, and then he gestured to himself, “It’s Taako. You know, from TV.”

Kravitz walked over to the unoccupied bed and set down his box. “Kravitz,” he said, and then asked, “You’re on TV?”

“Nah man,” he said, turning back to his posters and pressing the latest one firmly against the wall. “Not yet. I’m just getting everyone I know used to hearing that, so when I am TV-famous, it won’t be a shock. I don’t want all my friends flipping out because they know a _celebrity_.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Taako from TV.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Kravitz, not from TV.”

Kravitz looked at his new roommate, wondering whether he should say something else. They were, after all, going to be living together for the next year, at least, but decided against it. Taako was busy decorating, and Kravitz was busy thinking about how he was going to act like a normal student when by any stretch of the word normal, he was not.

While the Academy for the Magical and Non-Magical Arts (AMNA, as it was known by the free oversized t-shirts it sent to potential students bearing its emblem, a magic wand crossed with a pencil), the only school in Faerun that offered majors in both the schools of magic and other non-magical subjects, was surely full of people out of the ordinary, Kravitz doubted there was anyone at this school quite like him.

Kravitz may have looked human in that moment, with his dark skin, dread-locked hair, and rounded ears, but that’s only because he was choosing not to look like his other self—his skeleton-faced, scythe-toting, grim reaper self. He may have been enrolled at AMNA as a necromancy major, but that was only a cover for his true purpose at the school: hunting down two rogue liches. His employer, the Raven Queen, was in charge of petty mortal things, such as life and death, and didn’t really like when people flagrantly ignored the rules. Liches, who could survive after the deaths of their physical forms were an example of that flagrant disregard the Raven Queen so disliked. And so, when word got around that there were two liches living on this campus, the Raven Queen had sent Kravitz out to find them and reap them, by whatever means necessary.

The Raven Queen had probably meant that she would overlook any crimes he had to commit to find these liches, but Kravitz, who had never really done anything for himself before, including getting the old college experience had decided to take her words to mean that he could go undercover and search for the liches while also seeing what the big deal was about college. And he knew the college experience included dorm life, and so here he was, hanging up his collection of austere monochrome clothing, as his new roommate watched, mouth agape.

“Well,” said Taako, “At least I know who I can turn to if I want to goth it up for the night.”

Kravitz flushed, trying to mumble out a sentence about how it was all he had, and feeling a bit foolish for even being embarrassed about his wardrobe.

“No sweat, my dude,” said Taako, “You do you. And when you want to do you but not like you’re attending a funeral, ch’boy Taako got’cha covered.” He flashed a smile and hopped down off of his bed (which had been raised on makeshift stilts to fit more drawers full of clothing underneath). “My sister Lup is throwing a hella rad party tonight. You’re welcome to join.”

Kravitz looked at Taako who was still smiling, blue eyes shining, and wondered if Taako actually wanted him to come, or was just being nice. Kravitz assumed the latter, and said, “Thanks, but I should really finish unpacking, plus I’ve got an early class tomorrow…”

“It’s cool,” said Taako, pulling a pink feather boa out of a drawer and grabbing sunglasses in the shape of two stars off his desk and putting them on. “See ya later, roomie.” And he left, practically strutting out of the door.

Kravitz watched him go. He was literally a bounty hunter for the goddess of death, and yet he was sure he had never in his life felt that confident.

He was pretty much completely unpacked, save for a notebook at the bottom of the box he had brought in with him. Kravitz took it out along with a pen to take notes about the day. He found the best way to crack a case was to take careful notes, and as he didn’t know who these two liches were, he had to be wary of everyone—even Taako.

He dated the first page and then wrote: _Moved into new dorm today and met my roommate—an elf named Taako Taaco: blond(ish) hair, blue eyes._ He paused, thought for a few moments, chewing the pen between his teeth. _Eclectic taste in clothing_ . _Has a sister named Lup_ . _Suspicion level:_ He paused again. Sure Taako seemed eccentric, odd, interesting, but that didn’t mean he was a lich. Kravitz didn’t let him think about the part of his mind that was hoping Taako wasn’t one of the liches he was looking for. What a cruel joke that would be if Kravitz somehow landed a dorm with the most beautiful elf he had ever seen (Kravitz wasn’t too embarrassed to admit this to himself, despite the clothing that was not quite Kravitz’s taste, this was objectively true) only to have to reap him?

After a few moments, he put his pen back down to the page, and wrote deliberately: _low_.

…

The next morning Kravitz awoke early because somehow he was nervous. Taako had returned to the room sometime during the night, after Kravitz had long since stowed the journal under his mattress and fallen asleep, and was still asleep, tangled in his floral print comforter. Kravitz quietly readied himself for the day (including making his bed) and then left Taako sleeping.

He wandered the campus for a while, making note of the other early risers as he sipped his paper cup of steaming tea, until he could arrive at his first class of the day without seeming like too much of a loser. He ditched his empty cup of tea in a trash can and wandered into the studio-classroom for one of his general education classes: Dance 101 with Professor Highchurch. One side of the room had chairs set up facing a chalkboard, while the other with a large open space where, Kravitz realized nervously, they might actually dance. He took a seat in the middle-back of the chairs and waited for his classmates and the professor to show up.

Eventually more people trickled in, including the professor, a stout dwarven man with long gray hair tied up into a bun, a thick gray beard, and owlish glasses. Kravitz surreptitiously pulled out his notebook and started making notes about his classmates: _a large mountain of a man who seemed to be pining over an equally fierce-looking human woman, a dragonborn woman, an orc woman…_ He abruptly stashed the notebook when he realized that he knew the person who just walked through the door: Taako, his hair in a long braid that perfectly matched the nearly identical female elf who walked in with him. Behind them was a man with glasses and a crisp pair of denim jeans.

Kravitz realized he was staring and offered a little wave to make things less weird. Taako flashed a grin before walking over to Kravitz and sliding into the empty seat next to him.

“Oh em gee, Lup,” said Taako, “This is my new vampire roommate that I was telling you about.”

“Vampire?” asked Kravitz.

“You dress in all black and were literally awake before the sun,” Taako said, matter-of-factly.

“You were right,” said the female elf Kravitz assumed to be Lup and she slid five gold pieces to Taako as if he had just won some sort of bet.

“I’m not a vampire,” said Kravitz.

“I’m not saying your a vampire,” chimed in the man with the jeans, scientifically, “but I’m not saying your _not_ a vampire either.” He turned to Taako, adjusting his glasses. “I need more proof.”

Taako slung an arm around Kravitz’s shoulder, “No sweat Barold, we’re roommates. We’ve got plenty of time to prove it.”

Kravitz quickly disentangled himself from Taako’s arm—not because he minded the touching, but rather because his cold skin would not help the vampire argument. “I promise I’m not a vampire,” said Kravitz truthfully, although they weren’t far off. “I’m Kravitz, by the way.”

The female elf shrugged as if his status as a vampire didn’t really matter to her either way. “I’m Lup,” she said, “and this is my boyfriend Barry Bluejeans.” She said the last part rather loudly and several other students in the class turned to look.

“Do you really need to go shouting it?” asked Barry, looking mildly embarrassed.

“Why not, Hon, it’s a fucking excellent name.” She paused for a moment, and then added loudly, “And this is my brother Taako Taaco, you know, from TV.”

Taako beamed at her and their group of four earned strange looks from the other students.

Before anyone could respond, however, the lights flickered and went off. A few students screamed in the pitch blackness, and Kravitz contemplated materialing his scythe in case this was the work of the liches. But before he could, a single spotlight flared into existence in the center of the dance floor area of the classroom. Standing beneath that spotlight was Professor Highchurch, now wearing a leotard.

“Dance,” he said in his gruff voice, “cannot be taught.” He worked his way through a few intricate interpretive dance moves, before pausing with both hands stretched high above his head. “But they’re paying me to be here, so Pan-damn it, I’m going to try my best.” And he pirouetted his way to the front of the desk area where he handed a stack of syllabi to the beefy mountain man that Kravitz learned was named Magnus, and asked him to hand them out, “with feeling.” Whatever that meant.

Then, Professor Highchurch began writing notes about the history of dance on the chalkboard at the front of the room, which Kravitz copied down diligently into his school notebook (different from his work notebook). Next to him, Taako and Lup held a hushed conversation about their best dance moves, not copying anything down at all.

Kravitz wasn’t sure if he and Taako were friends, but he ultimately decided that as roommates they were close enough that he could say, “Don’t you think you should have been paying attention during class? What if there’s a test?”

“My dude,” said Taako, standing up from his seat, “This is _dance_ _class_. If I can’t trust this bod on the dance floor, I don’t know where I can trust myself.” And to punctuate this statement, he backed out of the room after Lup and Barry in a perfect moonwalk. “See ya later, Krav.”

Kravitz didn’t realize he was staring at the spot where Taako disappeared through the door until he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. “I feel you, bro,” said Magnus, although he wasn’t looking where Taako disappeared but through another door the the fierce-looking human woman, Julia, had left through.

Kravitz flushed red and left, saying he had his next class to get to.

…

It was not entirely untrue that Kravitz had another class to go to. He wandered around the campus, partially admiring all the old, vine-covered buildings and partially worrying that he would never find the room for his next class, before coming across the shrouded entrance to the school of necromancy in Keats Hall. They really had the creepy part down, thought Kravitz as he walked along the rough-hewn steps into an underground chamber with several other chambers leading off of it, including one that read Necromancy 121.

Given that Kravitz was death incarnate himself, he didn’t really think he needed to learn anything at all about necromancy to be light years ahead of his peers, but he figured the school of necromancy was a good place to start when hunting liches. He had encountered liches before in his career, but the intel provided to him by the Raven Queen seemed to indicate that these liches he was to hunt down had somehow maintained their original appearances, rather than wholly giving into the dark powers with which they made a contract.

Kravitz took a seat in the back of the circular classroom. The stone walls were covered by thick red curtains and flames hung in scones from the ceiling casting shadows every which way. He noticed, as his classmates filed into the room, that they immediately started removing layers of clothing and complaining about the heat. Kravitz, being not quite alive himself, hadn’t noticed, but began to remove his jacket and unbutton his collar just a bit so as not to stand out. He also noted this in his journal: _Look up—are liches affected by heat?_ If they were, that pretty much ruled out everyone in this classroom, except, perhaps, the teacher—a very stylish elf who told them they could all just call her Dr. Lydia.

Rather than writing on the board, she magicked her words so that they floated out of her mouth and hovered in mid-air before the class. Kravitz was pretty sure he knew everything, but took notes just in case. How would it look if the grim reaper failed his first necromancy exam?

…

When Kravitz returned to his room for the evening, he was surprisingly exhausted. Reaping the souls of the dead was apparently nothing compared to a hand-cramping day of taking notes. And now he had _homework_ to do. Rather than starting immediately on his homework, however, Kravitz collapsed face-first onto his well-made bed.

A few moments later, he was roused by a voice. “Tough day, my dude?”

Kravitz looked up to see Taako carrying an iced latte and looking bright and cheery as a sunburst. Kravitz pushed himself up into a sitting position and tucked his hair back from his face hoping he didn’t look like too much of a mess. “I’m just not used to this whole school thing,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything like this.” In fact, Kravitz could remember almost nothing about his life before bounty hunting for the Raven Queen, so it was mostly a guess that he had ever attended school in his life before.

“You and me both, my guy,” said Taako sinking into the floral print blankets of his own unmade bed.

“You certainly don’t look it,” said Kravitz who then regretted it, wondering if that was a weird thing to say. Along with school, he wasn’t sure the last time he’d had a friend that hadn’t been, well, dead.

Taako glanced at himself in the mirror set up like a vanity on his desk. “This _is_ killer eyeliner, amirite? But seriously, it’s the eyeliner not me. See?” He snapped his fingers and if you were watching very closely like Kravitz was, you could see that he magicked away his make-up. Given that he was naturally very beautiful, it was actually hard to tell. Either way, he was still drop-dead gorgeous—no pun intended.

Kravitz tore his gaze away from Taako’s face, chalking up his fascination to rarely getting to interact, let alone live, with a non-dead soul. “So,” said Kravitz, changing the subject. “Are you studying a school of magic here?”

Taako snorted in laughter. “Gods no. I’ve got that trick down pat. No, I’m studying,” he jumped up from his bed and did a little flourish with his arms for dramatic effect, “theater. For, you know, my TV career.”

Kravitz thought Taako seemed to have the whole acting bit down pat too, but didn’t push it. “You seem very dedicated.”

“Oh, I am, my dude. Someone’s got to keep me and Lup from going back to scavenging. She thinks its magic. I think its,” he paused, spreading his hands wide and said in a dreamy voice, “the magic of TV.”

“Scavenging?” asked Kravitz.

“Well, I mean, technically, we were homeless for a little while,” said Taako, “And technically it was me and Lup being dope ass wizards and shit that got us into this school, but wizarding wasn’t exactly paying the bills. So I’m going in a more practical direction.”

“TV-fame is your more practical direction?”

“Well, not when you say it like that,” pouted Taako, who collapsed on Kravitz’s bed next to him. Kravitz thought if he had a heartbeat, it might be pounding right now. Even when pouting, Taako was an incredibly attractive elf, who was now shoulder to shoulder with him and leaning inwards. “What’s your big plan, amigo?”

 _To reap the souls of two liches and then,_ he thought sadly, _leave_. But he said, “I’m studying necromancy.”

Taako stiffened. Kravitz knew necromancy wasn’t the most popular school, but when he looked at Taako, he noticed that the elf had gone white as a sheet. But moments later, before Kravitz could decide if he should say something, Taako had regained his composure. He stood up. “That’s cool bubele. And you’ve already got the wardrobe to match it,” he said in a half-hearted tease.

“I’m going to Lup’s for a bit,” added Taako after a few beats of silence. “You can come if you want.”

Kravitz glanced at Taako, still looking a little drained of color from the thought of what he was studying. “No that’s okay,” he said. “I’m pretty tired. I think I’m going to hit the hay early.”

Taako merely nodded, gathering his things and Kravitz felt a little deflated, a small part of him wanting Taako to insist he come. But then again, he had probably blown it by saying he was a necromancer. Technically what he was was much more hardcore than necromancy and Taako probably would have been less okay with it, but it still hurt.

Kravitz began unpacking his school bag as Taako headed out the door. But, before he left, Taako stopped and said, “Necromancy is serious shit… just don’t do anything stupid. Okay?”

“O-Okay,” said Kravitz, surprised as Taako nodded, satisfied and headed out of the room. 

Kravitz pulled out his notebook and opened to the page where he had marked Taako as a low threat. Was his precaution suspicious? Kravitz stared at the page for a few more moments before putting the notebook away, unchanged, silently praying to the gods that it wasn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I am so flattered by the all kind notes and kudos I received for the first chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to check out my story, and I hope you enjoy chapter two!

Kravitz quickly fell into a school-year routine. He would wake up early and walk the campus taking notes or rereading his notes, trying to deduce where two liches might be hiding. He had never before reaped a lich who had a strong enough bond to the living world that they were able to keep their physical forms and their sanity. Usually, he could suss out an unearthly presence, but he felt nothing here.

After walking the campus and finding no leads, he would go to class. Though he was dreading the day he would actually, physically have to dance, his favorite class was Dance 101. This was not because he found the history of dance enthralling or because he found a stout dwarf doing a home-cooked version of “interpretive jazz” amusing (although it was amusing), but because each class Taako, Lup, and Barry would invariably arrive moments before the start of class carrying lattes and sit next to Kravitz. Taako and Lup were friends with literally _everyone_ but still hunkered down for class next to (he hated to admit it and didn’t feel it was his fault given that his line of work didn’t allow for much opportunity to socialize with the living) socially-awkward Kravitz.

Most classes consisted of Kravitz taking notes, Barry listening with his eyes shut tight in a way that Kravitz used to think meant he was sleeping until he realized that Barry Bluejeans was literally a walking encyclopaedia, and Taako and Lup magicking notes to each other. This class, a Friday about five weeks into the year, was different however, because it ended with Professor Highchurch announcing that next week, they would have their first test.

“A test,” protested Taako loudly after class, “in _dance_ class, that doesn’t even involve _dancing_?”

“I know,” agreed Lup sniffly, “Carey and Killian even offered to teach me some of their sweet flip dance moves and now I won’t even need them!”

Barry added, “Technically, it does involve dancing. Just not _dancing_.” It was a written test on the history of dance up until that point—or at least the parts of the history of dance that Professor Highchurch found it worthwhile to teach, which was an eclectic and unrelated collection of facts that Kravitz couldn’t be sure he didn’t make up on the spot. There wasn’t a textbook for this class.

“Should be a breeze, though, right ‘Ko?” said Lup.

“Right,” said Taako, “A breeze.” It seemed to Kravitz that his response was lacking some of its usual swagger.

“You can borrow my notes if you need to,” offered Kravitz.

“Thanks Krav,” said Lup, “But this is the only studying I’ll need.” And she commenced a perfect on-point twirl in her knee-length boots that culminated in a leap into Barry’s arms. He caught her valiantly and dipped her nearly to the floor before planting a kiss on her lips. Lup responded by dragging her fingers through his hair, knocking his glasses askew.

“Ugh, gross,” called Taako loudly, “Get a room. Preferably on another plane of existence.”

“Taako,” said Lup, disentangling herself from Barry. “We’ve been dating for years. Are you ever going to stop yelling that every time we kiss?”

“It will never not be hilarious,” said Taako, flashing a grin. “So, no.”

…

Later that evening, Kravitz did not expect to see Taako. He had plans every night that either involved a revolving door of people Kravitz was acquainted with chilling in their room, or Taako going to Lup and Barry’s place. On a Friday, though, Taako almost always had a party to go to. If he saw Taako at all it was as a whirlwind blustering through his entire wardrobe before settling on the perfect outfit. He would always ask Kravitz if he wanted to join, and Kravitz would always turn him down. Part of him wanted to attend, but then a larger part of him worried that he would be too awkward. It was one thing socializing with the living in class where there was a structured set of rules, but it was a completely different thing socializing at a party where, if there were rules, Kravitz did not know them.

And so Kravitz was surprised to find, on this particular Friday night, that Taako was in the room when he returned and that his entire wardrobe had not been pulled out of its drawers. Rather Taako was laying on his floral-print bed with his legs, covered in long, white tube socks that reached past his knees, up against the wall and his head hanging upside down off the other side. His long, blonde hair nearly brushed the floor. He had on big headphones, but the points of his elfin ears could still be seen around the speakers.

As Kravitz entered the room, Taako opened one eye, saw him and then grinned. Kravitz cocked his head at the odd position, watching as Taako righted himself, drawing up his legs to sit cross-legged on the bed. “‘Sup, homeboy?” asked Taako.

“Not much,” said Kravitz, setting down his bag and reclining on his bed. “Big party plans tonight?”

“That nerd Lucas—with the science and shit—is apparently throwing a huge shindig—I think his bugbear roomie talked him into it—but,” Taako paused, and then said quickly, “Ch’boy ain’t going.”

Kravitz cocked an eyebrow. “Because there’s a better party going on somewhere else?”

“My dude, you clearly have never been to a bugbear party if you’re asking that.”

“I can’t say I have,” admitted Kravitz.

Taako looked aghast. “That’s it. I’m deffo bringing you to a party sometime.” He paused. “But this weekend… I have a favor to ask you.”

This got Kravitz’s attention. Taako was no doubt very popular, but he never really acted like he ever needed anyone else, except, perhaps, his sister, Lup. “Sure, anything,” said Kravitz, trying not to sound too eager.

For the first time that Kravitz had ever seen, Taako looked a little uncomfortable. He said, in a rush, “You know how in class today, I was acting like a test is no big deal. Well, it kinda is a big deal. I _suck_ at written tests. I think I know everything and then— _whoosh_ —I get there and it’s gone.”

“You get test anxiety?” asked Kravitz. Kravitz wasn’t really one to talk given that while he didn’t get test anxiety, he got _everything else_ anxiety, but he was surprised that the oh-so-confident Taako got anxiety about anything.

Taako pulled at his left ear in what was clearly a nervous gesture. “Not so loud. Ya boy got a reputation to keep up.”

Kravitz chuckled. “Sorry,” he said softly. “I’m just surprised that _Taako from TV_ of all people gets test anxiety.”

“Welp,” said Taako. “Now you know my deep, dark secret. Please don’t sell it out to the tabloids when I’m famous.” He offered a jokey grin.

Kravitz couldn’t help but to think, _if that’s your deep, dark secret, you’re living a charmed life._

…

After Kravitz had agreed, Taako said, “It’s a date,” grinned, and then rushed out of the room, saying he would be back soon with supplies. Kravitz was still pondering what Taako had meant by calling this favor a date, when Taako returned with three large bags that ferried in the greasy smell of fast food.

“No study sesh is complete without snacks, my dude,” said Taako. He pushed aside half-empty nail polish bottles and tubes of mascara before dropping the bags of food on his desk. “At least I assume so. Study seshes are _so_ not my usual jam.”

Kravitz looked up from where he had been spreading his Dance 101 notes on his desk at the bags, packed full of various foods. “I didn’t realize that you were planning a meal for 20,” he said pawing through the bags before finding french fries. Despite being inhabited by all-powerful beings, you just couldn’t get good fries in the Celestial Plane.

Taako shrugged, and said a little hesitantly, “I wasn’t sure what you liked so…” He gestured at the cornucopia before him and broke out into a wide grin. “I got one of everything.”

And so Kravitz spent a very enjoyable evening with Taako, quizzing him on things they had learned in Dance 101 and eating a _ton_ of food. Whenever they came across something particularly disgusting, Taako would sprinkle on a bit of his transmutation magic to change it into something more palatable.

“Can I ask you something, Taako,” said Kravitz after watching the elf transmute the soggy fixings on a burger into crisp, breaded, onion rings.

“Shoot,” responded Taako distractedly, trying out one of the rings cautiously.

Kravitz bit his lip, before diving forward. “I’m having a great time,” he said honestly, “It’s nice to have someone to hang out with. But Lup and Barry are in the class, too. Why aren’t you studying with them?”

From five weeks of class, Kravitz had gotten the notion that Taako and Lup were those twins that did _everything_ together.

Taako’s silence was just a beat too long; Kravitz chanced looking up from his notes where he had been pointedly staring to hide any trace of embarrassment at the question. Taako opened his mouth and then closed it again. A moment later, he said, “Change of pace, my dude. I don’t need them ragging on me because Barold has practically a photographic fucking memory and Lup is good at everything… and then here ch’boy is fucking up the founding dates of the Rockport Rockettes and the Neverwinter Waltzers.”

Kravitz could have sworn Taako was considering saying something else in answer to that question, but for the life of him, he didn’t know what. “To be fair,” said Kravitz, “Nobody really fucking cares.”

“You can say that again, my dude.”

...

Kravitz was surprised to find that after their first study session, Taako came back for a second round of review, and then a third. Suddenly, it was 1 a.m. the night before the big test and Kravitz found that he had a very sleepy Taako, sporting a messy fishtail braid, leggings, and an oversized tee-shirt that read in looping pink script _I Was Born This Fabulous_ , leaning against him as they both sat propped against the wall on his dorm room bed.

“When and where were the first five Great Dance Competitions of Faerun held?” asked Kravitz reading from his notes.

Taako let out a great yawn and rested his head on Kravitz’s shoulder before mumbling a list of dates and places. Kravitz, being distracted by Taako falling asleep on his shoulder, had to ask Taako to repeat the dates before he could check the answer against his notes.

From their studying sessions, Kravitz had ascertained two things. One being that despite seemingly not paying attention during any class so far this semester, Taako really knew his stuff. The other being that Kravitz had come to the realization that he had a huge crush on his roommate—a roommate that was currently falling asleep in his bed.

“Maybe we should turn in for the night,” said Kravitz, “Get a good night sleep before the big test.”

“Brilliant idea,” mumbled Taako sleepily. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

Kravitz flushed red and Taako did not move at all. Kravitz attempted to extricate himself—not really wanting Taako to go back to his own bed, but also not wanting to be weird—by pulling his arm out from where Taako was leaning on it. This only served to give Taako access to leaning on his chest. Which he promptly did.

“You feel like when you flip your pillow over to get to the cold side,” murmured Taako, “‘S wonderful.”

“Erm, thanks?” said Kravitz. He felt Taako’s mouth twitch slightly against his chest, but the elf did not reply. He wondered if Taako had actually fallen asleep. The elf’s head felt very warm where it was pressed into his chest—most likely because Kravitz’s half-dead form was always cold to the touch. He worried that Taako might notice, and so said softly, “Uh, Taako?”

There was no response. Kravitz was a little at a loss for what to do. He settled on just a few more minutes of studying for himself, as he had been a bit distracted at the end from Taako’s proximity on his bed, and then he would wake Taako up and send him back to his own bed.

But instead of reading his Dance 101 notes, he found himself reading his lich-hunting notebook. Except lately, he hadn’t made any entries that might indicate possible liches. Most of his entries featured Taako quite pertinently. Kravitz tried to chalk that up to the fact that over the last week he had spent a lot of time with Taako between studying together and class. Plus, was it just him, or was Taako spending more time in their room? But really, who was he kidding… Kravitz realized that for the first time, perhaps ever in his life as the Raven Queen’s bounty hunter, he was falling completely and hopelessly in love…

...

Kravitz awoke to light streaming through the open window by his bed and the sound of Taako saying, “Shit, shit, shit, shit.” Kravitz opened his eyes and moved to find he felt cramped and sore… from a night of sleeping against the wall while Taako used him as a pillow. He almost felt embarrassed, but then he caught a glimpse of the clock on his desk. Dance 101 with Professor Highchurch started in exactly three minutes.

“Shit,” agreed Kravitz, vaulting out of bed.

“My sentiments exactly, my dude,” said Taako, his cheery attitude strained. He was wearing the same crumpled clothes from the night before and steadily flinging tubes of make-up off his desk. “Gods, why didn’t you tell me I was such a primadonna? I own seven fucking eyebrow pencils and not a single _actual_ pencil.”

Kravitz pulled open a neatly sorted drawer in his desk and pulled out a handful of writing utensils. “I’ve got you. But we need to, like, go. Now.”

Taako swung a scarf around his neck, pushed his hair out of his face, and somehow managed to look like a model. “Way ahead of you my dude,” he said and dashed out the door, Kravitz, feeling incredibly rumpled in his day-old button-up shirt, right behind.

…

Kravitz was especially glad to have Taako with him when he walked into class 10 minutes late, the other students well into their exam. Taako strode right up to Professor Highchurch and said, “I’m sorry we’re late my dude, but we had, like, a real emergency last night. Kravitz’s dog _died_.”

Kravitz quickly pretended to look sad, trying to ignore the fact that all eyes were on him.

“I thought there were no dogs allowed on campus,” said Professor Highchurch.

“Did I say dog?” said Taako quickly. “I meant fish. It was tragic, really. We had a funeral and everything.”

Professor Highchurch either looked suspicious or like he hadn’t really been paying attention, but either way, he gave them their tests and Kravitz and Taako took their usual seats near Barry and Lup. Lup’s eyes slid pointedly between Taako and Kravitz and a smile played at her lips before she turned back to her test.

After the test, as the four of them were gathering their things, Lup said, “Dead fish, huh?”

“Gimme a break,” said Taako, “It was short notice and I had only been awake for about 13 minutes at that point.”

“Oh I noticed,” said Lup looking at Taako’s and Kravitz’s rumpled clothes.

“Make-up or no, we are worlds above the other schlubs disgracing us with their ungodly presences,” said Taako, tossing his hair back, “Right Krav?”

Kravitz startled. He had been sure Taako was talking about himself and his twin sister. Kravitz thought in his current state he was more at home with the ungodly schlubs. “Right,” he said.

A grin plastered itself across Lup’s face that Kravitz found unreadable, yet it made him a little uneasy. Taako seemed to be pointedly ignoring it.

They made their way out of the classroom after that, but before Kravitz could leave, he was stopped by their classmate, Magnus. “Steven and I just wanted to say, sorry for your loss.”

Magnus was holding in his hand, Kravitz realized, a small glass globe with a goldfish swimming inside of it. _Did he always have that fish with him?_ “Er, thanks,” said Kravitz, “That means a lot.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all, again, for the wonderfully encouraging feedback! I know this chapter is a week late, but it's also the longest so far, so I hope that makes up for it :)

Kravitz parted ways with Taako, Lup, and Barry after class and headed to Necromancy 121 with Dr. Lydia. Usually class was uneventful, and unpleasant. The room was always sweltering—the heat itself didn’t so much bother Kravitz as it did his other classmates, but the odd rotten-egg stench of sulfur mixed with body-odor was enough to make even Kravitz unhappy. Plus there was the insane antics of their professor, such as a review game the other students unaffectionately dubbed “The Suffering Game,” that resulted in docked points from their final averages for each incorrect answer. Lydia seemed to take an alarming glee in her students’ emotional pain. 

But an interesting question came up today—a break from the usual torment. A man in the front row with a beanie cap and gratuitous ear-piercings, raised his hand in the middle of class.

“Yes Cam?” asked Dr. Lydia.

“I was wondering, how is a lich made?”

Kravitz who may have been somewhat caught in a daydream of the sauve things he would say in a conversation with Taako should the right conditions ever arrive, perked up at this.

“Liches are beings of pure magical energy,” said Dr. Lydia, “Created when a magic user binds their souls to something outside of their body. And unless they have a very, very strong emotional attachment to the physical world, will likely lose themselves to the power. It isn’t something to mess around with.”

“Can a lich keep their original form, or do they always go all ghosty?” asked Cam.

Lydia paused before answering this. “I have heard,” she said slowly, “of this being the case for liches who can align themselves to a particular emotion and then feed off of it.”

“If Dr. Lydia was a lich,” muttered Artemis Sterling, a young, rich kid from Neverwinter who always looked like he had aged 10 years when he left this class, “she would feed on misery.”

Kravitz wasn’t sure if this was a lead, but he reached into his bag to grab his lich-hunting notebook… and realized it was not there. If his heart had been beating, it would have skipped a beat. He couldn’t risk somebody finding it and reading it.

As soon as class ended, he rushed back to his and Taako’s dorm rooming, hoping the notebook would be there.

It was there, but so was Lup. And his notebook was clutched in her hands. Kravitz froze in the doorway.

“Hey Krav,” said Lup, “You are just the vamp roomie I was hoping to see.”

The notebook wasn’t open, but she was holding it. Kravitz tried to look nonchalant. “You aren’t looking for Taako?”

“Oh, I was looking for Taako,” said Lup, “But then I found this, homie.” She waved the notebook in the air. Kravitz failed to hide a wince. “Don’t worry, my dude. I didn’t read your diary. But I couldn’t help it if it was open and I  _ happened _ to see who you’ve been writing about.”

“Who do you mean?” asked Kravitz, trying not to sound strained.

“Fine,” said Lup, standing up. “Play dumb.” She offered the book, and muttered, “Gods, maybe you and Taako really are perfect for each other,” then said louder. “If you break my brother’s heart, I promise I will break your kneecaps and make it look like an accident. M’Kay?”

And with that, she left. Kravitz was fairly certain she didn’t read his notebook and know his true purpose at this school. But he was also fairly certain that she knew about his feelings for Taako. Somehow, this wasn’t a relief.

…

Kravitz was already in the room when Taako returned mid-afternoon. He had added the interesting encounter in his necromancy class, realizing with slight embarrassment that he noted so often what Taako was doing (and wearing and saying... his smile, the way he tugged on his long elfin ears when he was nervous...), especially over the last week, that it easily could be construed as a diary, and then once again stashed the journal beneath his mattress. He had since started on some of his necromancy homework. He really should have been paying more attention to what he was reading, given that “The Suffering Game” had his—the grim fucking reaper’s—average in class down to a C-, but found the motion more calming than reading the actual words as he considered how suddenly how his problems had somehow shifted from trying to figure out who was the lich to trying to figure out if his roommate liked him back.

“‘Sup Krav,” said Taako, flinging himself onto his bed.

He lifted his necromancy textbook in response and said, “Homework.”

“Well that sounds lame and boring, and you should probably stop right now.”

“You know, if I hadn’t done my Dance 101 homework we probably would have both failed that test,” said Kravitz, sitting up and pushing the necromancy textbook aside.

“And if I hadn’t woken us up this morning, we would have missed the test completely,” argued Taako, with a grin. “I think that makes us even.”

“Five weeks of meticulous note-taking versus one night of sucking at sleeping in,” said Kravitz, pretending to be deep in thought. “Sounds about even.”

“For the record,” said Taako, “I am fucking great at beauty sleep and so that took real power of will, my dude.”

Kravitz chuckled.

Taako grinned. “So what’s on the agenda tonight, hombre?”

“This, I guess.” Kravitz pointed to his abandoned necromancy textbook.

“Nope. Wrong, boyo,” said Taako. “You’re having dinner with me.”

“Dinner?” repeated Kravitz.

“You know, that thing with the eating and the talking.”

Kravitz said his next words quickly. “Like a date?”

Taako tugged at his ear and looked at the ceiling. “No. Yes. Maybe? Lup and Barry will be there too because we’ll be at their house. I just wanted to thank you for not letting crash and burn on that test today.”

“You wouldn’t have crashed and burned,” said Kravitz, meaning it. “But sure, dinner sounds great.”

“Good,” said Taako. “Be there around eight, and be hungry because I am a fucking fantastic chef.”

“And modest too,” laughed Kravitz.

“I deffo never said that,” said Taako, flashing huge grin. “Ch’boy knows what he’s good at.”

...

Taako left shortly after inviting him to dinner, saying he had to stock up at the Fantasy Costco, leaving Kravitz with about three hours to kill before he could show up at Lup and Barry’s house ready for dinner. He never returned to his necromancy homework, which he would probably regret sometime in the future, but not now. Instead, he spent the time pawing through his wardrobe, trying to figure out what would be appropriate to wear. Most days he wore a button up shirt and slacks. He had abandoned his suit jackets on the second day of class, after realizing that most of the other students here showed up to class in their pajamas. But he looked damn good in a suit, and on this maybe-a-date with Taako, he wanted to look damn good. 

After changing three times, Kravitz eventually settled on a black jacket with raven’s wings embroidered in thin silver thread on the back and silver trim at the cuffs. He paired this with a red scarf, rather than a tie as the autumn weather was growing cooler by the day and tied his dreads into a ponytail that hung down his back.

Even with all of the indecision, Kravitz still had an hour to kill before he could arrive and not be unfashionably early. He decided to take himself for a walk to ease his nerves and found himself outside of a flower shop in town.

“Don’t think, just do,” Kravitz muttered to himself, a philosophy that he stole from his classmate Magnus. Magnus and Julia just celebrated their one month anniversary, so clearly it could work. Kravitz steeled himself and pushed open the door to the flower shop.

Once inside  _ Gaia’s Garden _ , he was surprised to see his Dance 101 professor inside, wearing an apron and a name tag that said  _ Hi I’m Merle _ . His surprise turned to horror when he saw that Professor Merle Highchurch seemed to be fondling an over-excited fern. That wasn’t a sentence Kravitz  _ ever _ thought he would think.

He turned to leave without saying anything, but wasn’t fast enough. “Hey there… Kovu is it?”

“It’s Kravitz,” said Kravitz with a wince as Merle disentangled himself from the fern, “Hi Professor Highchurch. I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Ah yes,” said the professor, “Plants are my real passion. Dancing just pays the bills.”

After seeing his interactions with that fern, Kravitz was suddenly incredibly grateful that Professor Highchurch was not passionate about dance in that way.

“What can I get for you kid?” asked the dwarf, waddling over to him.

“Flowers?”

Professor Highchurch grinned, “For that other kid… Burrito, right?”

“Taako,” said Kravitz, both surprised that their professor of several weeks seemed to have no idea what their names were and that that same professor also seemed to pick up on his crush on the elf. “How did you know?”

“Yeah, that one,” said the dwarf. “And I’ve got a teenage daughter. I know how these things work.”

_ Is Professor Highchurch comparing me to his teenage daughter?  _ wondered Kravitz a little indignantly. He was death itself for gods’ sake, but all he said is, “Can you help me out?”

“Sure thing, kid,” said Professor Highchurch, and he disappeared behind a display of flowers. When he returned, he was carrying a bouquet of red and gold flowers, tied at the base with red silk. It was perfect.

“Thanks Professor,” said Kravitz, digging out the gold pieces to pay.

But Merle refused the money, “This one’s on me, kid. And don’t forget proper flower care—they like to be tickled right here.” He scratched one of the roses just beneath the base on the bloom and it seemed to bend into his touch.

“Sure…” said Kravitz, quickly taking the flowers and turning to exit the shop. He attempted to blink away the images of Professor Highchurch basically having plant sex with the plants, but failed miserably.

…

Kravitz still managed to arrive at Lup and Barry’s place a little early. They had a decrepit house with a wide porch just a few streets away from the campus. Kravitz hung out at the end of the road until he deemed it not  _ too _ early to arrive. He knocked on the door, and was surprised to find it answered nearly immediately by Lup.

“Barry and I had a bet going about whether or not you would chicken out,” she said in place of a greeting. “You stood at the end of the street  _ for-fucking-ever _ . Fortunately for my wallet and your kneecaps, you made the right choice.”

“You’re welcome?” said Kravitz.

Lup’s gaze slid from Kravitz’s face to the flowers clutched in his hands, and yelled into the house, “Taako, your vamp-roomie-boyfriend is here.” She turned around and walked back inside. Kravitz took that as an invitation to follow her.

Inside the house, Kravitz could see Barry and two other people he did not know waiting for Lup in front of a television. A video game was paused on the screen. There was a table—or at least Kravitz assumed it was a table underneath the clothing, papers and dishes strewn haphazardly across it—and through a doorway, Kravitz could see a galley kitchen, from which a savory garlic aroma was emanating.

“Sloane, Hurley,” said Lup to the half-elf and halfling women draped over one another on the beat-up couch by the TV, “This is Kravitz. You know, the one that Taako  _ studied _ with for his test.”

Kravitz didn’t think he’d ever heard the word  _ study _ said in a such a manner that is sounded so much like  _ had sex _ .

“And Kravitz,” said Lup, “These are our hella rad roomies, Sloane and Hurley.”

Hurley, the halfling, waved and Sloane whispered to her in a voice that was not nearly quiet enough to keep her words secret, “So that’s the one we think Taako is sleeping with, huh?”

Kravitz was saved from having to decide if he should respond by Taako coming out of the kitchen. “I would appreciate it if you giant douches could give me a hand in the kitchen,” he said to the group around the TV.

“No can do bro,” said Lup, unpausing the game, “I am fucking crushing it at Mario Kart. Can’t stop now.”

“I’ll help,” offered Kravitz, glad for a reason to not stand there awkwardly.

“I’m sorry they’re so fucking awful,” said Taako, loudly, as they walked to the kitchen. In impressive unison, the four of them flipped Taako off without even looking. “I told them that we slept together but not  _ slept  _ together. But what can I say? Ch’boy got game and they didn’t believe me.”

Kravitz chuckled a little nervously. “That’s what family is for, right?” He assumed, at least. The closest thing he had to family was the Raven Queen and she isn’t exactly the most mother-like celestial being he’s ever met.

“Right,” said Taako, noticing the flowers, “For me?”

“I just thought—” Kravitz began lamely, and then said, feeling even more lame, “Yeah.”

Taako took them and buried his nose in them. He was wearing a short, floral print dress over neon yellow leggings, and had a white apron tied around his waist. Kravitz thought he looked adorable, and then flushed at the thought.

“Thanks Krav,” said Taako sincerely. “I think there’s a vase on the table. Under all of Lup’s crap,” he added loudly. It was supremely impressive that she could continue to dominate at Mario Kart while her left hand was so often occupied with flipping Taako off. “Just shove her stuff on the floor, and then maybe you could set the table? Ch’boy’s got a sauce to taste.”

Kravitz cleared the table and did find a vase although it was filled with plant whose vines immediately started to wrap themselves around Kravitz’s wrists when he touched it. “Sloane,” said Hurley, peeking over the couch, “It looks like Kravitz just found your old botany project.”

The plant was halfway up Kravitz’s arms before Sloane managed to coax it off of him and into a shoebox. Kravitz could have sworn he heard the thing purr happily as she whisked it off to her and Hurley’s room.

Kravitz brought the now empty vase out into the kitchen to disinfect it. He rinsed the vase as Taako hopped back and forth between the stove and the oven, checking on his various creations. “I didn’t know you could cook,” said Kravitz. “Where’d you learn?”

“Lup and I lived with our Aunt when we were kids,” said Taako, eyeing the garlic bread he had baking in the oven. “Lup learned to set things on fire. I learned to cook things. I was for sure the favorite child in that household. Hands down.”

Kravitz chuckled. “That’s sweet. The extent of my cooking knowledge is pour cereal, and then milk.”

“Preferably bowl first,” added Taako. “So in Casa Kravitz, it was every man for himself?”

“We were more of a set things on fire family,” said Kravitz evasively. He certainly learned some sick fighting moves from the Raven Queen, but he and the other reapers never sat down to family dinners. Although imagining that brought a small smile to his lips.

“That’s cool, too, my dude,” said Taako. “Hell, you’ll probably need it tonight. Let me just say that I apologize in advance for any crap you receive tonight. Just know that Lup and Barry only give people they like a hard time.”

“And what happens to the people they don’t like?” asked Kravitz.

Taako pondered that one for a moment. “You’re guess is as good as mine bubele. They’re usually not around long enough for me to find out.”

“Should I be afraid?” said Kravitz, peeking out of the kitchen toward the others. They had finished up their game and Hurley and Sloane looked like they were on their way out.

Taako appeared behind him, also looking at his sister and her boyfriend. “I’m like 99 percent sure the answer is no.” Lup saw them looking and flashed a huge grin. “97 percent. Wiggle room. Ch’boy doesn’t like to be wrong.”

...

Kravitz was only slightly surprised to find that dinner was actually fun. It was a little hard to keep up with the banter between the elven twins, but Barry also seemed to have trouble, so Kravitz just accepted it as a known fact: no one was closer than Taako and Lup. But Kravitz felt lucky to be at least this close.

He did have to withstand a little bit of grilling from Lup and Barry. It was a weird combination of practical questions (from Barry) and outlandish would you rather questions (from Lup).

“What’s your plan for after this,” asked Barry.

“Sleep. For days,” supplied Taako, “Studying is literally the most exhausting thing I have ever done ever in my entire life.”

“I can’t imagine you’ll get much rest  _ sleeping _ back at your room, Taako,” said Lup, waggling her eyebrows at him.

“I meant after college, Hon,” explained Barry to Lup.

“Oh, I know what you meant,” said Lup simply, not moving her eyes or her playful smirk from Taako.

Kravitz cleared his throat and supplied, “I’ll probably go back to the family business.” That was mostly the truth.

“Oh my gods,” said Taako, “I should have known you worked for the fantasy mafia.”

“All the signs are there,” agreed Lup.

“Serious,” listed Taako.

“Secretive,” added Lup.

“And dressed for murder in the most fantastic fucking fashion,” finished Taako.

Kravitz couldn’t really argue. He had worn this outfit when reaping on more than one occasion—at least until he shifted into his skeleton self. “You got me,” he said, only half joking.

“So what is the family business?” asked Barry, seemingly ignoring the elves.

Kravitz actually had this one prepared in case anyone asked. “We’re morticians.” A half-truth. He dealt more with souls than dead bodies, but dead bodies were the direct result of taking a soul to the astral plane.

“Spooky,” said Taako.

“A good cover for the fantasy mafia,” said Lup.

“True that,” said Taako.

“Okay, my turn,” said Lup, turning to Kravitz. “If you could speak the language of one type of animal, which would you choose?”

“Um,” said Kravitz. “Can I think about it? Which animal would you talk to?”

Taako, Lup, and Barry, all said in unison, “Mongoose,” and then looked at each other, pleasantly surprised.

“Because the mongoose has special acetylcholine receptors that make it impervious to venom,” said Taako.

“Making them very good at killing snakes,” added Lup.

“They’re surprisingly dangerous,” said Barry.

“I was going to say a cat or some shit like that,” said Kravitz surprised and impressed, “But can I join team mongoose?”

Lup and Barry looked at each other, as if they were the judges of that question. They seemed to be having one of those silent conversations people who know each other really well can have. Or they were telepathic. Kravitz got the sense that they were powerful magic wielders and so wouldn’t put it past them. After a few more moments of deliberation, Lup said, “We suppose yes, but on one condition. You let me crush you in an inaugural game of Mario Kart.”

“That seems fair,” said Kravitz, suppressing his grin.

“You know,” said Taako, “I don’t need your blessing. You’re not our mom.”

“But I am six minutes older, so yes, yes you do.”

Taako stuck his tongue out at her, and then said, “Thanks  _ mom _ .”

And Taako looked at Kravtiz with a smile that crinkled the freckled skin around his eyes and melted Kravitz’s heart. “C’mom let’s trounce these fools at Mario Kart.”

...

They did play Mario Kart, and neither Taako, Kravitz, nor Barry managed to trounce Lup. In fact, they were crushed so bad that Taako took to yelling “Nerd Alert,” every time Lup tried to speak. Lup responded by casting Mage Hand to knock the controller out of Taako’s hands every time he looked like he was nearing a victory.

Kravitz and Barry both seemed to sense an all-out sibling war on the horizon which, given the immense power of the siblings in question, would have likely resulted in a crater forming where the house Lup and Barry shared with Sloane and Hurley once stood.

“It’s getting late,” said Kravitz, surprised to find himself stifling an actual yawn. He supposed it had been a long day. “I’m probably going to head back to our room.” He paused and asked a little awkwardly, “You coming Taako?” How did it work if you were maybe-dating your roommate?

“Lup has never cleaned a dish in her entire life, and Barold would probably let the mold grow in some sort of freaky science experiment,” said Taako, “So I’m going to stay for a bit and clean up, because I’M A NICE PERSON.” He said the last part loudly and threw a dirty look at Lup and Barry who were nestled on the couch smiling at them. “But I’ll walk you out?”

“Sure,” said Kravitz. 

Twinkling fairy lights illuminated the wide veranda, and a crisp breeze blew past in the autumn night. Kravitz leaned on the railing and Taako moved next to him, propping himself up with his elbows. Stars winked overhead.

After a few moments of silence, Kravitz asked, hesitantly, “Are—are we dating now?”

“We did eat dinner together,” mused Taako, “And had a really good time.” He looked up at Kravitz as if questioning whether he agreed.

“I had a great time, Taako,” said Kravitz. Taako moved almost imperceptibly closer. Their shoulders now touched. “I don’t think I’ve ever had better food… or better company.” He looked at Taako, who was also looking back at him.

“I—” began Taako. He paused for a moment, and then continued. “I was going to say something hella rad, but I feel like we’re having a moment. Are we having a moment?”

Kravitz chuckled. “I don’t have much experience with moments, but I think this is one.”

“Okay good,” said Taako, “because I really want to do this.” And he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kravitz’s. And it was the most amazing thing Kravitz had ever felt. Taako’s lips burned hot against his own cool face, and were soft, and utterly perfect. Kravitz closed his eyes and leaned in for a moment before they both pulled back for air.

Taako looked at him with a grin hinting at nervousness. “Was that cool with you?”

Kravitz felt a smile break across his own face. “The coolest.”

“That’s good, because I would like to do that again sometime.” He paused and thought about it for a moment. “Like many, many sometimes. Like I want to be doing that way more often than not doing that.”

“Starting now?” asked Kravitz.

“You read my mind, Krav,” said Taako. And they kissed. Again and again and again. Until Kravitz had pulled Taako in close, this burning hot body, pressing against his own. Until Taako had wound his fingers through Kravitz’s dreads, pulling his face in closer—as if they could get any closer. And they stayed that way for what felt like hours and seconds all at once.

They only broke apart when they heard a loud, pointed cough. Lup stood in the doorway. “You know I love you, Taako. Hon. But don’t you, like, have a dorm room you are paying exorbitant amounts of gold pieces for? I’ll clean up from dinner. My one-time present for my brother and his new boyfriend.”

Taako quickly gave Lup instructions for storing the extra food, and she gave him a thumbs up that either indicated that she had been listening or at least she pretended to, and headed back inside, shutting the door behind her.

Taako and Kravitz walked back to their dorm room, holding hands the whole way, Taako wearing Kravitz’s red scarf against the autumn chill.

“I have a confession to make,” said Taako as they neared their dorm. “I didn’t just ask you to help me study because you’re an uber nerd who’s good at taking notes.”

“Really? I thought it was my great penmanship that really turned you on,” joked Kravitz.

“It does,” said Taako, “But we’ll unpack that bad boy later. No, I wanted to show you that I’m more than model-good-looks and A+ one-liners. That I’m multi-dimensional.”

“I already knew that, Taako,” said Kravitz. “I was very happy that you asked me, though.”

Taako grinned at him. “Also, did I mention, that you are really fucking hot? That one. That’s the other reason.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thank you for all of the wonderful reviews and kudos! They really are the bond engine that keeps me writing. Second, I apologize for the long wait between updates, but hopefully some spooky, scary, (sometimes) skeleton Kravitz just in time for October will make up for it :)

By about a month after they started dating, Taako’s bed had become yet another receptacle for his wardrobe as they had both begun sleeping in Kravitz’s bed. This was inordinately clear to anyone who walked in the room, which was fine when it was just their friends, but a little awkward when it was their dormitory RA.

Kravitz and Taako made good on their promise to spend more time kissing than not (Kravitz still marvelled over the fact that Taako was so warm and soft and gods-damn perfect and the fact that Taako still wanted to do this even though Kravitz knew he must feel cold and clammy in comparison), and so that’s what they were doing when their RA, Art Goodfriend, knocked on their door. It turns out Taako had not latched the door when he returned from class and literally pounced on Kravitz, leading to their current positioning.

The door flung wide open at Art’s touch. Art flushed bright red and Kravitz resisted the urge to hide his face in his hands. 

Taako propped himself up on his elbows and looked at the door. “Oops,” he said, “My bad. That one’s on Taako. For sure.” He looked at Art, who still stood in the doorway clutching a flier about a dorm-wide ice cream social that weekend. “What’s crackin’ Art Bueno-Amigo?”

“Ice Cream Fun-Day, this Sunday,” said Art mechanically, posting a flier on their door. “We hope to see you there.” He paused, looking conflicted, and then reached into his pocket, tossed a handful of condoms their way, and said “Safe sex is great sex!” with forced cheer and then turned to leave.

Taako scooped up the condoms looking mighty pleased with himself.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” asked Kravitz, reading the unlatched door.

Taako shrugged. “So maybe, just maybe, Carey, Magnus, and I all made a bet about who could make Art feel more awkward. And maybe, just maybe ch’boy scored us date-gold.” Taako looked up at Kravitz with a grin. “It is our one-month anniversary, after all.”

“You remembered,” said Kravitz, failing to suppress a smile.

“Of course, my dude,” said Taako. “And I’ve made reservations for us tonight.”

“Where?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out,” said Taako cheekily, pulling Kravitz back down onto the bed as he cast mage hand and slammed the door shut tight.

…

Kravitz rushed home after his class, anxious and excited for that night. He wanted to tell Taako that he loved him that night. He didn’t have a ton of experience with the whole relationship thing, but noone in his life (death?) made him feel the way that Taako did, and keeping those emotions inside made it feel like he was going to burst. And so he meticulously picked out an outfit (a black jacket embroidered with the outline of red roses down the sleeves and the scarf he had worn that first night he had dinner with Taako, Lup, and Barry). He pushed some of the tubes of make-up and other accessories out of the way on Taako’s desk so he could examine his hair in Taako’s lighted vanity mirror. He was considering clipping back some of his dreads when a sound like ripping fabric tore through the room.

Kravitz whirled in his seat to see that a tear in the universe had formed in the middle of their dorm room. And, with the sucking sound of water going down a drain, he was pulled through.

The tear closed behind him.

…

After a few disoriented moments, Kravitz recognized where he was: the Palace of the Raven Queen in the Celestial Plane. He looked around and saw the familiar shifting shapes of the cross-hatched walls of twigs and leaves and branches and the nest-like throne of the queen herself. Although he couldn’t look at any one thing for too long. He found that one side effect of not being a god in a god-plane was that everything always looked like it was moving, shifting, changing shape. This included the Raven Queen. One moment she looked like a dark haired person with red eyes and an elegant dress made of feathers and the next that dress was her wings and she had a beak in place of a mouth.

“My queen,” said Kravitz bowing low.

The Raven Queen stood and took a few hopping, bird-like steps to him. “Krav, dear,” she said, then noted his outfit,“You’re looking dapper tonight.”

“Thank you,” he said, standing up from his bow, briefly wondering if Taako was actually going to be able to see him in this outfit tonight. Time moved strangely in the Celestial Plane.

“You trying to seduce the lich?” said the queen, cocking her head. “You remember, right? You are at the university to reap two liches.”

“Of course I remember.”

“You do?” she said, “I wouldn’t know. It’s been a month your time since I’ve received any update or report.”

“Has it?” said Kravitz calculating in his head, and then wincing. The last time he’d really even seriously thought about the liches was the day Taako asked him to dinner, after that necromancy class.

“Is something going on?” asked the Raven Queen, “Anything you want to talk about, dear?”

Kravitz considered for a moment, telling her about Taako. He didn’t really have anyone to tell about this wonderful thing in his life. Well this wonderful thing that he hoped was still in his life because he was  _ so _ late for their date right now.

“Nope,” said Kravitz, “I’ve just been distracted by the whole college thing. I’ll keep more focused from now on though.”

The Raven Queen looked at him with a slight hint of concern, but then shook her head and smiled. “Okay dear. Keep in touch. Oh, and Istus sends her love.”

“Tell her I said hello,” said Kravitz before materializing his scythe in his hands and cutting a path through dimensions. With a wave, he stepped inside and vanished.

…

Kravitz had the foresight not to open the tear directly in his dorm room. Instead, he opened it a little ways off campus. The stars were shining bright, no trace of daylight left as Kravitz stepped from the Celestial to the Material Plane. With a thought that made him sick to his stomach, Kravitz realized that he wasn’t just late to his date with Taako, he had missed it altogether.

He began jogging back to his dorm as a light drizzle began to fall. When he returned, sodden with rainfall, he opened his dorm room door to find Taako sitting on his bed, clutching a vase full of flowers. He looked up as Kravitz entered, his hair falling away from his face; tear-tracks cut through the elf’s make-up.

Taako wiped his eyes hastily, smudging his eyeliner. “I went without you,” he said, “When you didn’t show. To the Chug ‘n’ Squeeze. It was all couples and me and I made this—” he held up the vase “—for the flowers I got you. It was fucking awful.”

“Taako I—I’m so, so sorry,” said Kravitz, walking over to the bed where Taako sat. The elf turned away. “I got called away for work unexpectedly.”

“What work?” asked Taako skeptically.

“The family business,” said Kravitz, both wondering if Taako would buy it and hating to lie.

“As a mortician?” asked Taako. “Those dead bodies couldn’t wait for just a few seconds while you left a note?”

Kravitz opened his mouth and then closed it again. What could he say? That he’s not really a mortician—he’s actually a dead person who can turn into a skeleton and go collect other dead people? That a goddess of death summoned him unexpectedly to the Celestial Plane and that while the conversation couldn’t have lasted more than ten minutes for him, hours passed in the Material Plane?

“I’m sorry,” said Kravitz lamely.

Taako looked at him expectantly as if waiting for more of an explanation, but Kravitz couldn’t think of anything to say. “I’m staying the night at Lup’s,” he said before standing up, vase still clutched to his chest, and walking out.

Kravitz put his head in his hands. What could he do to fix this mess?

...

Taako didn’t return the next morning or at all the next day. Neither he, Lup nor Barry showed up at Dance 101, and so Kravitz ended up partnered with Professor Highchurch, as they had moved on from theory and history to actual dancing. After an embarrassing hour of getting his feet stepped on by the stout dwarf, he decided that he would have to find a way to make it up to Taako and get him back.

And so after class, he headed over to the Chug ‘n’ Squeeze. He opened the door to the studio. There seemed to be a kid’s birthday party happening at the moment; a banner hung on the back wall that read “Happy Birthday Angus!” The birthday boy, Angus, a kid of about 10 with glasses and fancy clothing, seemed to be having a great time, although his guests did not. He appeared to be deducing the exact contents of each present before he opened it, and the other kids looked a little disappointed their surprises were ruined.

There was a man sitting behind the desk, watching the party, as well. A chalkboard sign advertised that they were having “Cab’ ‘n’ Vase Night” that evening.

“You here to throw?” asked the man behind the desk.

“Actually,” said Kravitz, “I’d like to make a reservation for tonight. Are there any seats left?”

The man checked a list behind the counter. “It’s almost full up, but we’ve got room. Should I put you down for two?”

“No,” said Kravitz, “Just one.”

The man gave him a quizzical look. “This is kinda a couples thing, you know.”

“I’m well aware thanks,” said Kravitz as he looked between the studio and door. “And can I have that seat, there.” He pointed to one in the center, easily seen from the front door.

“Sure, whatever you want,” said the man, handing Kravitz a reminder slip for the class at 7:30 that evening. “Classes run about an hour. The Cabernet and the clay is included.”

“Thanks,” said Kravitz, taking the ticket. He headed out of the shop to his next stop.

…

“What did I say about hurting my brother?” said Lup, by way of greeting, when Kravitz knocked at the door. She leaned against the door frame, holding an umbrella over her should, despite the fact that it was cool, yet sunny outside. Over her shoulder, he could see Barry, Sloane, and Hurley peeking over the back of the ratty couch to watch the conversation in the threshold.

“My kneecaps and I would appreciate it if you’d just hear me out,” said Kravitz holding up his hands and backing up as the tip of the umbrella seemed to glow as if preparing some sort of spell.

Lup straightened up from the doorway and pushed her long blonde hair out of her face. She crossed her arms, letting the umbrella, still warm, dangle from her wrist. “I’m listening. I can’t say for how long, but I’m listening.”

“Look, I would never mean to hurt Taako,” said Kravitz, “I lo—I mean I really care about him. And I want to make it up to him.”

Lup considered for a moment and then said, “I don’t know if Taako told you this, but we didn’t have a super great life when we were kids. I mean, we’ve always been this hella awesome, but it wasn’t awesome the way our relatives made promises they didn’t keep and just kept passing us off so we were someone else’s problem. It was just him and me. He doesn’t trust people easily.”

“I know,” said Kravitz. He pulled a letter from his pocket. “I want to make it up to him. Can you give him this?”

She took it from him. “You know Barry and I are totally going to read this first.”

“I trust you,” said Kravitz, offering a small smile. “I just hope you guys will still trust me.”

…

At 7:30, Kravitz took his seat at the Chug ‘n’ Squeeze for “Cab ‘n’ Vase” night. Every other person there was part of a couple. He recognized a few people. Magnus and Julia sat in the back and Magnus patted the seat next to him to indicate that Kravitz could join them. Kravitz, however, shook his head. You wouldn’t be able to see that seat from the door. Carey and Killian were there, seemingly already a little tipsy, as if they had pre-gamed for this evening. 

The seat in the front and center had a little sign that said reserved. Kravitz moved the sign and took a seat, setting down the flowers he had bought at his feet. He then removed his jacket and his scarf, revealing the long-sleeved T-shirt he was wearing beneath; it was a black shirt with white lettering that read:  _ There are approximately 1,013,913 words in the common language but I could never string any of them together to explain how much I love tacos. _

As the class began, Kravitz realized that Taako was right: being the only single person as a couples’ event was extremely awkward. Each couple drank cabernet and sculpted a vase on a pottery of varying skill (or lack thereof) and Kravitz watched the door.

The letter he had left for Taako had read, 

_ I know it was super shitty of me to stand you up for our one month anniversary, so I am giving you the chance to stand me up. Then we’ll be even. Because, Taako, I’m crazy about you and I don’t want something like this to break us apart. I’ll be at the Chug ‘n’ Squeeze alone at 7:30, if you want to stop by and watch the show. _

_ Love,  _

_ Kravitz _

It was nearing the end of the hour and Taako hadn’t shown. Kravitz’s vase looked more like a tumorous bowl and he had been reprimanded several times by the man running the class. He was beginning to think that Taako wouldn’t come, wouldn’t forgive him, when he saw a familiar face through the glass door.

Taako was standing there, wearing what looked to be Kravitz’s raven-wing-embroidered black jacket and clutching a huge bowl. He grinned widely through a mouth full of popcorn. Kravitz grinned hugely and, not paying attention, accidentally crushed his vase-in-progress into a heap.

Fortunately, the instructor wasn’t paying attention. He had noticed Taako too, and went to the door, asking if he wanted to come in. There were a few empty seats.

“Nah,” Kravitz heard Taako say, “Taako’s good out here.”

The class ended a short while later. Kravitz thought his vase was a lost cause (although admittedly, he didn’t look down at it once after Taako showed up and stood in the doorway, occasionally making adorable faces at him), but Magnus, who was surprisingly adept at crafting things, swooped in at the last moment and molded it into something acceptable. The instructor magicked the vases so that they would retain their shapes without having to wait for it to be fired in a kiln, and then it was time to leave.

Kravitz put the flowers in the vase and presented it to Taako as soon as he left the shop.

Taako gave Kravitz the mostly empty popcorn tub to hold and took the vase and flowers. “Mmm, B- for skill, but A+ for presentation,” said Taako. “The embarrassment factor is really what raked in the points. And the shirt for sure. I like the shirt.”

Kravitz chuckled. “I like your jacket.”

Taako shrugged.

“You’re either a kleptomaniac,” said Kravitz, “Or you missed me…?”

“A little—” he began, “No, scratch that. A lot. Of both.”

“I’m sorry, again,” said Kravitz.

Taako looked at the ground and then up at Kravitz, as if struggling for words. “I’m sorry too,” he said finally.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” said Kravitz, “I’m the one who stood you up.”

“Normally, ch’boy would totally agree with you,” said Taako, “But, I may have overreacted. Which I have never done ever in my life before.”

“Naturally,” agreed Kravitz with a grin.

“But...” began Taako, before pausing. “I heard Lup telling you about our relatives. We lived with our aunt until we were 12, and it was great. But then she died, and things kind of got rough from there. We lived with some other family members who clearly didn’t want us and mostly we just fended for ourselves. We were in a dark place for a long time. And then we met Barry and… and eventually we got to this place. A good place. But there were a lot of downs before the ups, you know?”

“Taako,” began Kravitz, “You don’t need to justify—” But Taako held up a hand to stop him.

“I’m not trying to justify my actions. I’m just—” Taako paused, absently tugging at his ear, “I just want you to understand because I’m selfish and I don’t want the dumb things I do to make you leave.”

“You do dumb things sometimes Taako,” said Kravitz, “Like daring Magnus to eat that rock and then he actually did. But trying to protect yourself, the people you love, is not one of them.”

Taako wrapped his arm around Kravitz’s waist and leaned into his shoulder. Kravitz leaned down kissed the top of his head.

“Are we going back to our place, or Lup’s?” asked Kravitz as they walked away from the pottery shop.

“Ours,” said Taako and he looked up at Kravitz with a sheepish grin. “I may have made a bet with Lup that I wouldn’t go running back to you and she bet that I would.”

“So you’ve sabotaged yourself,” said Kravitz.

“Of for sure,” said Taako, “But you look hella hot in that shirt right now and would look hella hotter without it, and so, my dude, I think my self-sabotage will be worth it, don’t you?”

“I certainly hope so,” Kravitz said, with a grin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally back with another chapter! It's been a crazy busy month, so thanks for sticking with me. I do hope you enjoy this one! I very much enjoyed writing it :)

As the semester drew to a close, Kravitz split his time between Taako and studying for his upcoming final exams. He had shadowed Dr. Lydia for a while given that her knowledge of liches was his only lead, but hadn’t seen anything particularly out of the ordinary. She lived with her brother, Edward, another professor in the school of necromancy near campus, but he never saw them performing any dark arts, except for, perhaps, crafting their final exams that Kravitz knew were going to be brutal. All that he really found was that he had to spend way more time preparing for her class than ever before, and so stalking possible liches took more of a backseat in terms of time available. In part, he didn’t want to find the liches because that meant a new assignment and time away from Taako.

Also, he might have to explain exactly what the family business does—a conversation he was not looking forward to.

And so, instead, time he could spend hunting liches was spent having snowball fights with Taako, Lup, Barry and whoever else they could recruit (or irritate enough that they would participate for revenge) at a moment’s notice. It was spent roasting marshmallows over the stove at Lup and Barry’s place. It was spent (and Kravitz could not believe he was doing this) practicing their group choreographed dance for Professor Highchurch’s Dance 101 final exam performance.

Lup and Barry had pushed the couch in their living room out of the way to clear a space for practice. Hurley and Sloane had taken up residence there to watch, saying that they were much more interesting than anything on TV. Taako and Lup had taken over choreography and music entirely, claiming that Kravitz and Barry did all the work for the first half of the semester anyway by actually paying attention in class.

Also the twins seemed like they were made to dance. When Kravitz said as much, Taako responded, “Have you, like, seen you? You can do this, my dude. And, if you still doubt, think of it this way. With me and Lup on the stage, it is hella unlikely that anyone will be looking at you anyway.”

“Hell yeah,” said Lup as she high-fived Taako.

“They’re right,” said Barry.

“Huh,” said Hurley with a grin, “Who said that? The only people I see here are two egocentric elves.”

“Nice one,” said Sloane high-fiving Hurley.

“I think you misjudged what it takes to insult these two,” commented Kravitz, at the same time that Taako mused, “Egocentric is just a different way of saying that we know how fucking rad we are, so thanks.” Taako and Lup high-fived again.

“I hate to break this up, but Dance is probably the only final I need to study for, and I don’t really want my GPA ruined by a dwarf who fondles plants in his free time,” said Barry.

Their dance involved way more gyrating than Kravitz was strictly comfortable with, but he couldn’t deny that Taako and Lup stole the show. And on the day of their final exam, despite the fact that Kravitz tripped and Barry missed a cue, they received a standing ovation from their entire class and Professor Highchurch. They left the studio after their exam to find snow was falling in thick flakes, coating the grounds and buildings in a white blanket.

“How exactly did you manage to get an A, again?” Kravitz asked Taako. “You had a C average in that class and the final was only 20% of your grade.”

“Lup,” said Taako, turning to his sister with a glint in his eyes, “Can you do the math for me?”

“Let’s see,” said Lup contemplatively, “A C average plus one hella fine moment of shaking what our mama gave you, divided by, uh, who fucking cares, equals Taako crushes it. Sound about right, Hon?” she asked, turning to Barry.

“The math seems to check out to me,” he said, wrapping his arm around Lup’s shoulder.

“So there you have it,” said Taako, turning back to Kravitz and kissing his cheek. “Boy howdy,” said Taako snaking his arm around Kravitz’s waist, “We have got to get you some sweet winter gear, my dude. You are like ice.”

Kravitz shifted a little uncomfortably. No matter who many layers he wore, he would never warm up, not without body heat. So he changed the subject. “So are you guys going home for Candlenights?”

Lup and Taako shared a look before bursting out laughing.

“They don’t really get along well with their remaining relatives,” explained Barry.

“You burn down the Candlenights bush one time,” said Lup throwing her arms up, “And suddenly you’re—” she held up her hands to make air quotes “— _a menace to society_ and you’re never asked back.”

“Plus the gifts they gave us were straight up trash,” added Taako.

“But they made excellent fuel for the fire,” acknowledged Lup.

“So that would be a no?” asked Kravitz.

“A hell no,” said Taako.

“I was planning to stay here, too,” said Kravitz, rather quickly. They hadn’t been dating for that long. What if Taako didn’t want him at their Candlenights celebration?

Taako smiled at him. “Then buckle up, buckaroo, because you are in for some of the best food of your entire life.”

Lup paused and looked at Taako, her eyes wide and the start of a grin pulling at her lips. “Does this mean…. _macarons_?”

“Hell yeah this means macarons!” said Taako.

“Taako,” said Lup, taking him by the shoulders, “You are my favorite brother and I now feel sorry that I used your nice set of kitchen knives to threaten Greg fucking Grimaldus, and may have perhaps melted them in the heat of the moment.”

“What could you have possibly been threatening him for,” asked Kravitz, “that warranted melting a set of kitchen knives?”

“He owes me fifteen dollars,” said Lup, the fire of vengeance lighting in her eyes, “And I aim to collect.” She looked into the distance as if she could see him, her eyes smoldering. “You better believe, Greg Grimaldus.”

...

When you’re a grim reaper, you don’t normally discriminate between days of the year. In fact, knowing it’s Candlenights is generally worse than not knowing because you know you’re taking someone away from their family at the holidays and it just sucks. Kravitz found, however, that half hunting liches, half dating Taako made the holiday indescribably better. There was no rush to catch the liches and Taako’s holiday desserts were just as delicious as the elf made them out to be.

But it also meant that Kravitz needed, for the first time in his life, to get somebody a Candlenights present. And he had no fucking clue what to get for Taako. When he asked Taako what he would like, Taako had simply said, “I’ll just unwrap you, my dude. That’s the only Candlenights present I need.” This wouldn’t have been too embarrassing if he hadn’t said it in front of Barry, Lup, Sloane, and Hurley, who all giggled uncontrollably.

And this was how Kravitz ended up at the Fantasy Costco with Barry two days before Candlenights. Kravitz generally tried to avoid the store because the clerk, a warlock named Garfield, was frankly a bit intimidating. But you couldn’t deny that this store had everything.

“So what are you getting for Lup?” asked Kravitz, ducking down an aisle to avoid being in Garfield’s line of sight.

He pondered for a moment. “Fireworks,” he said, “Like a lot of fireworks.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” asked Kravitz as they reached a display of fireworks and Barry started shoveling them into his cart.

“The way I think of it,” said Barry, “is that everything is dangerous in the hands of Lup. So whether I get her fireworks or  a set of checkers, we’re all just as likely to lose a limb, so why not go with the one she’d like more.”

This was not particularly reassuring or helpful to Kravitz in figuring out the perfect gift for Taako. As Barry loaded his cart with fireworks, Kravitz wandered the aisles, past weapons and enchanted objects, past arts and crafts supplies, jewelry, clothing, books, and then he was in the food section. And that’s when an idea hit him. There were two days until Candlenights and he had a lot of work to do.

…

When Candlenights finally arrived, Kravitz was pleased with himself but a little nervous. He slid his gift for Taako under the Candlenights bush with the rest and kept glancing at it all morning as the elf twins slowly awoke (when plied with tremendous amounts of caffeine—Kravitz had learned this in the time he had been dating the elf so far: Taako was not a morning person) and they ate a spectacular breakfast of crepes and poached eggs prepared by Taako. He had cooked all of their meals leading up to Candlenights, and they were all wonderfully delicious.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they began sharing their gifts. Taako shoved a box into Lup’s hands from where he sat nestled in Kravitz’s arms. “From your baby bro,” said Taako with a grin.

“Is it more macarons?” asked Lup from around a mouthful of cookie. She opened it the rest of the way and pulled out a what shirt with sparkly pink lettering that read _I’m the Hot Twin_. Taako wriggled out of Kravitz’s arms and then shimmied out of the oversized sweater he had been wearing. Beneath, he was wearing an identical shirt.

“Nice one bro,” she said reaching up for a high-five.

Taako shook his head. “Don’t thank me yet,” he said, pointing to the box.

Lup looked inside and then pulled out a gift card for the Fantasy Olive Garden. “Unlimited Pasta for you and free drinks for a friend,” Lup read, squinting to see the fine print, before looking up with a huge grin. “Is this what I think it’s for?” Lup held up the gift card and the shirt.

“If you think it’s for pulling a good, old-fashioned twin switcheroo at the Fantasy O.G., then yes, yes it is,” said Taako.

Lup leaned forward to embrace Taako in a hug before saying in an almost reverent tone. “We are going to eat so much fucking free pasta.”

“I know, bubele,” said Taako. “Happy Candlenights, sis.”

Lup then pushed a box at Taako. “This kind of pales in comparison to free fucking pasta, but you know, happy Candlenights, ‘Ko.”

Taako unwrapped the gift to reveal a set of very nice kitchen knives. Taako was ecstatic and immediately started speculating what he could chop with them for their Candlenights dinner later.

“Before you get too far ahead,” said Kravitz, reaching for his gift for Taako under the bush and handing it to him, “here. This is from me.”

Kravitz had been hunting down rogue souls for centuries. He regularly bantered with celestial beings, and, prior to this semester at college, spent most of his free time in the Astral Plane. Yet the thought of Taako being disappointed by his Candlenights gift had Kravtiz wanting to tear a hole in this plane and run away through it. He opted instead for biting his lip as Taako opened the cookbook.

“ _101 Recipes Even an Idiot Couldn’t Screw Up_ ,” read Taako before saying to no one in particular, “You accidentally poison 40 people _one_ _time_ and it’s all anybody wants to talk about.”

“There’s more—” began Kravitz, “Wait, you _poisoned_ 40 people?”

“Food poisoning,” said Taako, “And technically it was my sous chef.”

“Because,” chimed in Lup, “You were a pompous ass, but that’s besides the point.”

Taako shrugged. “The brand is _Taako_ ,” he said waved a hand majestically as if the words would appear mid-air. “Not _Taako and Sazed_ . Who’s going to buy a t-shirt that says ‘Sizzlin’ It Up with Taako _and_ Sazed’?”

Barry raised his hand, but quickly put it down after an angry glare from Taako.

“Anyway,” said Kravitz cutting in, not realizing his gift would open up such a can of worms. “There’s more to the gift.” he pointed to a bookmark he had placed on a page toward the back.

Taako flipped to the page to reveal that it wasn’t technically a bookmark, but rather a laminated menu describing a four-course meal. “You want me to cook this for you?” asked Taako, confused.

“No,” said Kravitz, flushing, “I want to cook it for you—all of you,” he gestured toward Taako, Lup, and Barry, “for dinner tonight. You’ve done all of the cooking for the past week. My gift is that you get to be lazy and to be served by someone else for once.”

Taako looked down at the menu and Kravitz held his breath. Finally, the elf looked up at him and grinned. “This is super sweet, my dude. Thanks Krav.” Closing the gap between them, Taako pressed his lips to Kravitz’s, reaching a hand up to stroke his cheek.

Kravitz could have just melted right then. Taako liked his gift! But before he could bask in the happiness and the warmth of Taako against him, a pointed cough from Lup brought them back to reality.

“I was expecting some fucking awesome food tonight,” said Lup with a look in her eyes that could very easily be considered a threat. “And I do not want to be disappointed. Capiche?”

“Got it,” said Kravitz, a flutter of nerves blossoming in his stomach.

…

Later that afternoon, Kravitz found himself in the galley kitchen of Lup and Barry’s house with Taako tying an apron around Kravitz’s waist emblazoned with the words _Kiss the Cook_.

“Don’t mind if I do,” said Taako, giving him a mischievous smile before kissing his way up Kravitz’s neck. A series of feather light caresses as Taako’s lips trailed from his collar bone to his jaw line to his lips that left goosebumps pimpling his dark, cold skin. Kravitz placed his hands on the small of Taako’s back, pulling the slim elf flush against him and backing him into the counter.

Somehow they ended up with Taako sitting on the counter, his legs wrapped around Kravitz, when Lup entered the kitchen and said, “Not all of us can just eat Krav’s face for dinner, ‘Ko.” She leaned against the door jamb and crossed her arms, a smirk playing at her lips. “Some of us are expecting you know, _actual_ food.”

Kravitz disentangled himself from Taako (which was quite the feat, as Taako didn’t seem particularly keen on letting go. “We were, uh, just waiting for the oven to preheat.”

This would have been a fairly good excuse had the oven actually been on. Sheepishly, Kravitz moved to the oven and set it to the correct temperature.

“That’s a lie,” said Taako cheerily, hopping down from his perch on the counter. “We were totes making out.”

Kravitz palmed his face.

“You’re lucky I have several large fireworks to discharge to distract me from my hunger,” said Lup, brandishing a rocket-shaped one like a sword.

Kravitz peeked out of the kitchen and saw several fireworks set up in the other room, as if prepared to be set off. “In the house?” he asked.

“It’s cold outside,” said Taako and Lup at once as if Kravitz were an idiot for asking such a thing.

Though marginally afraid for all of their well being, Kravitz didn't push the matter. He figured Lup and Barry were skilled enough magicians to contain the blast of a firework. Instead, he began chopping vegetables as Taako pulled up a stool to watch.

After a few moments of contented silence (only interrupted by the bangs of a few small fireworks), Taako said, “The recipe calls for mincing, and _that_ , my dude, is dicing.”

Kravitz tried to switch to mincing (although he really wasn’t sure of the difference) and ended up with a lopsided and uneven array of chopped veggies. Taako looked on apprehensively. “Maybe I could just…” said Taako reaching for the knife.

“No,” said Kravitz snatching up the utensil. “You’re supposed to have the night off. This is your gift.”

Taako chewed his lip, as if considering. “You’re right, bubele. Live and let live, amirite?” said Taako, but he was still staring longingly at the poorly chopped vegetables.

Kravitz turned away to find a pan appropriate for sauteing. When he turned back half the veggies were shredded into nice even pieces. “Taako,” he said, “Did you magic these?”

“I don’t think I’m at liberty to say, my dude,” said Taako, “But if I were, I might refer to myself as your fairy godmother of cooking.” He pointed his wand at the other half of the vegetables. “Bippity boppity fuck yeah.” A jet of light shot out of the wand and the veggies were shredded nicely like the other half.

“Maybe I could use a sous chef,” said Kravitz considering.

“Hell yeah,” said Taako, ripping off his oversized sweater. Underneath he was already wearing an apron that also said _Kiss the Cook_.

Kravitz read the apron, a grin forming at his lips. He reached out and pulled Taako close. “Looks like we're back a square one,” he breathed, his mouth mere inches from Taako’s.

Taako wriggled to free an arm and pointed at the recipe sitting on the counter. Somebody had penciled in a “Step #1.5” after mincing the vegetables that read _Make out with the super hot chef._ “It’s right there,” said Taako, “in the recipe.”

“Well,” said Kravitz, “I can’t argue with that logic.” And he closed the gap between him and Taako.

...

Making dinner was a slow process, but Kravitz didn’t mind. Taako had penciled in several more make-out sessions into the recipe, but also sped the cooking process up by covertly fixing Kravitz’s mistakes. Lup and Barry didn’t mind too much, mostly because one of Lup’s fireworks went astray and blasted a hole through the roof, which Barry spent much of the evening mending with a simple cantrip.

It was late by the time dinner was served, but everyone was still in high spirits. Not even the leak over the table (due to the hole that was still in the process of mending) could dampen the mood. Once the puddle got big enough, Lup transformed it into an impromptu ice sculpture of a family of four intricately carved mongooses.

Near the end of dinner, Lup stood up on her chair and held up her glass of red wine. “I want to make a toast, so listen up scrubs,” she said.

Taako, Kravitz, and Barry all held up their glasses, as well.

“We’ve had a lot—like _a lot_ a lot—of bad Candlenights,” said Lup, looking at Taako who nodded. “But then these two losers wandered into our lives.” She glanced at Barry and then Kravitz. “And you know, things are looking up. So thanks, Krav,” she said looking at Kravitz. “Thanks Hon” She looked at Barry. “And thanks, ‘Ko.” She raised her glass higher as she looked at Taako. “For making things not suck.”

And they all drank to that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RoseFromTheDark actually updated? What? It's a Candlenights miracle! I hope you enjoy this next installment! Also I will try my very best to not go two months without updating again (since we are getting close to the end and all :o).

****The new semester started at AMNA on a cold, but sunny day a few weeks after Candlenights. Kravitz was going to miss those lazy, cozy weeks of winter break. It wasn’t that he minded the school work, but rather he would have to resume his actual job of looking for the liches. He had received several notes from the Raven Queen asking for updates. Despite the differences in time between the Material and the Celestial Planes, this mission was taking a _long_ time. Mostly because Kravitz was purposefully devoting very little time to it.

The Raven Queen had sent Kravitz a kit for polishing his scythe for Candlenights and a sweater knit by Istus. He liked the sweater (which was patterned with little dancing skeletons), but he didn’t really need to scythe polishing kit, as he hadn’t even called his scythe to him since opening that tear back from the Celestial Plane on the night of his and Taako’s one month anniversary. Suddenly feeling guilty for neglecting work, he hid the kit under his bed (his closet had been completely overtaken by Taako’s ever-expanding wardrobe) and set out to his first class of the day Necromancy 221 with Dr. Edward.

Necromancy 221 was the follow-up course to Dr. Lydia’s Necromancy 121. Dr. Edward was Lydia’s brother and seemed to have the same penchant for suffering as she did. The class was the earliest of any at the university, starting at 6:30 AM (Kravitz had carefully extricated himself from Taako’s embrace at 6:00 AM so as not to wake the elf and ruin his day too). Instead of holding the class in a sweltering room, Dr. Edward kept his so cold that Kravitz could see the breath of his other classmates, as they shivered and layered on coats and jackets. Kravitz himself half-heartedly pretended to be cold as well as he peered around the classroom. Almost all of the students were the same as in Necromancy 121, except for one change: Cam—who had asked about liches last semester—was missing.

Kravitz found this odd as Cam always seemed so eager in class, sitting front and center, not minding sacrificing his grade to help out his classmates in those awful review games Dr. Lydia cooked up.

“Do you know what happened to Cam?” Kravitz whispered to Rowan, a strong wood elf who always came to class with a cache of jerky.

“Dunno,” said Rowan thoughtfully, “I heard that he kind of just disappeared. His roommate came back from Candlenights break and all his stuff was still in their room, but he was just gone.”

“That’s odd,” said Kravitz. “Has anyone looked for him?”

“I know there was an investigation, but I don’t think anything came of it,” said Rowan. “I heard that a student from the School of Abjuration went missing too around the same time.” He shrugged.

They both leaned back to their own seats as Dr. Edward began magicking the notes into the air. Kravitz took notes, but not for class. Instead he pulled out his lich notebook, opened to a fresh page and wrote down, _Cam missing — Lich activity?_

…

After class, Kravitz had a while to kill before his breakfast date with Taako (given that his first class started so early and, when possible, Taako slept extremely late). He wandered over to the local militia station, trying to think up a plan to find out more about the disappearances. When he stepped into the building, he was surprised to find someone he knew sitting behind the desk.

“Hello—oh, hi Hurley,” said Kravitz, surprised. “I didn’t know you worked here.” Kravitz had never witnessed it, but knew that Hurley and Sloane participated in drag races that were not particularly approved of by the local law enforcement.

“Hey Kravitz,” said Hurley brightly, looking up from the paperwork on the desk in front of her. “I’m just an intern. I—uh—don’t particularly like spreading it around.” She lowered her voice and whispered. “Not great for my reputation and all.”

“Well,” Kravitz chuckled awkwardly, “I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine.”

Hurley looked at him suspiciously. “What’s your secret? Are you hiding something?”

Kravitz held up his hands and blatantly lied, “No, no. I’m… really interested in true crime. And I came here to ask about a case.”

“Oh,” said Hurley, blinking. “Well that’s not a secret.”

“That I’m into learning about true crime?” asked Kravitz, confused. He was fairly certain he had never before uttered that sentence in his life or given any indication that true crime stories interested him (because they didn’t particularly).

“No,” said Hurley with a grin, “That you are a total nerd.”

“I—I,” he spluttered for a moment, wanting to argue, but not able to find the words. “Fine, you got me.”

Hurley chuckled to herself. “I bet you read Caleb Cleveland novels as a kid, right?” She walked over to a filing cabinet, pulled out a folder, and tossed it to Kravitz. “I’ll give you a sheriff’s badge sticker if you can figure that one out.”

Kravitz opened the file, ignoring her comments. It was the case he had come here for. Five days after Candlenights, two students were reported missing. Each report was made separately and the two students didn’t seem to have any particularly strong connection to one another. The first student reported missing was Cam from Kravitz’s necromancy classes and the second was a woman named Lucretia who was a student in the School of Abjuration. There was no sign of a struggle in either of their dorm rooms. It simply looked like each one left and just never came back.

“Weird, right?” said Hurley. “It’s like they just up and left school, but didn’t bother to pack up any of their crap. Like they each thought they’d be back and then they never were.”

“Very strange, indeed,” said Kravitz opening a notebook that had been placed in the file. Each page was filled with insanely small, cramped handwriting. About a dozen or so pages at the end of the notebook had been torn out. “What’s this?” He held up the notebook.

“Oh,” said Hurley, “Lucretia, I guess, was a very meticulous notekeeper. Like a diary to the extreme. That’s the most recent one. Captain Captain Bane thought it might have some leads, but the pages she wrote leading up to her disappearance are gone.”

“Hmm,” said Kravitz, only half listening. He noticed that a few of the pages were ripped so hastily that parts of the first word on some of the lines had been left behind. In particular, the last line on one of the missing pages read _Suffering Ga—,_ the rip tearing through the second word. It couldn’t be coincidence that his class with Cam had been dubbed the “Suffering Game” and then this woman Lucretia, who disappeared along with him, wrote it in her journal, could it?

“Are you still investigating this?” asked Kravitz, sliding the notebook back into the file.

Hurley shook her head. “It’s been nearly a month with no leads. My favorite theory is that they eloped together,” she said hopefully, but then her face fell. “But that’s not what the general consensus is.”

Kravtiz gave her a commiserating look as he set the file back on her desk. “Thanks for letting me look.”

“You’re welcome,” said Hurley, “See you later!”

Kravitz gave her a wave as he left the building, pondering the situation. Perhaps it would soon be time to question the necromancy siblings.

…

At brunch—which they ate after noon, so it was more like lunch with waffles—Taako told Kravitz he had a surprise for him and to meet him after his last class at Lup and Barry’s place. He trudged through a layer of snow to their house, which had been looking a little lopsided ever since Lup blew a hole in the roof with a firework and Barry mended it. He knocked on the door while considering the stability of the structure.

“What up, my dude?” said Taako, opening the door. In his other hand, he held a pair of handcuffs.

Kravitz felt himself flush red up to his ears before answering in a voice that sounded a little too high-pitched to his own ears, he asked, “Is—is this the surprise?”

Taako grinned. “Yes.” He paused and looked from Kravtiz to the handcuffs. “Well no. Not that I’m opposed to that. But anyway,” he said, pulling Kravitz inside and shutting the door, “we are going to a party tonight. Now should I be the hot cop or should you?”

Kravitz opened his mouth and then closed it again, before finally saying, “Okay. Start over. We’re going to a party? It’s a Monday night.”

“Those things are both true. Yes.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Do you need a reason to party?” asked Taako.

Kravitz was trying to come up with a witty comeback when Lup walked into the room. “Yeah ‘Ko,” she said, a hint of worry creasing her forehead. “Are you _sure_ you want to go out tonight. We could just, you know, chill here.”

Kravitz and Taako both looked at Lup aghast. Taako usually saved his partying for later in the week, it was true, but his wanting to party was not nearly as surprising to Kravitz as Lup _not_ wanting to go to a party.

Taako replied with a slight edge to his voice that indicated that they had already had this conversation at least once before. “I _am_ sure, Sis.”

Lup let her face fall into a frown for a moment before plastering on a smile. “Okay,” she said, “Barry and I call going as Professor Highchurch.” She walked back to her room. Barry was standing in the doorway and wrapped her in a hug before they closed the door.

“Is something going on?” asked Kravitz tentatively.

“Yes, something is going on,” said Taako. “We are going to a hella rad start-of-the-semester costume party hosted by everyone’s favorite bugbear, Klarg!”

“Did I agree to that?”

“It was in the contract when we started dating,” said Taako. “Always read the fine print, my dude.”

Kravitz let half a smile form on his lips before wrapping his arm around Taako’s shoulders and kissing his temple. “I guess was a bit a distracted then. I didn’t read closely enough.”

Taako leaned into him for a second before scooting away and holding up the handcuffs again. “Now should I be the hot cop, or should you?”

Hurley and Sloane emerged from their room. Sloane had a very realistic mask of a raven pulled over her own face. Hurley’s mask of a ram’s face was pushed up onto her head. She caught Kravitz’s eye and gave him a grin and a wink.

“What’s the other option?” asked Kravitz.

“Hot robber,” said Taako as if this was obvious. “Hurley gave me the excellent idea of us going as a sexy cop and robber.”

Kravitz flushed again, realizing that Hurley must have given Taako this idea thinking that Kravitz was into this sort of thing. “What’s the rest of the outfit look like?” he asked.

“I’ll magic it to the right size depending on which one you want,” said Taako, holding up a militia outfit that included tall black boots and very short shorts. It occurred to Kravitz that he might in fact be into sexy true crime if Taako was wearing that outfit.

“You can be the cop,” said Kravitz quickly. “I’ll be the robber.”

“Suit yourself,” said Taako, tossing Kravitz a mostly black ensemble to put on.

Kravitz went into the bathroom to change. The outfit consisted of tight black pants and sleeveless shirt, black leather boots, and a black mask to tie around his eyes. The clothes fit very tightly, but Kravitz guessed that was the purpose. Feeling only a little self-conscious, he exited the bathroom and was immediately accosted by Lup.

She was wearing what Kravitz guessed was her Professor Merle Highchurch costume, which included a long gray fake beard infested with flowers and other plant life and a leotard over tights with leg warmers. Despite the fact that Lup had a good couple of feet on their dance professor and was a young-looking elf rather than a old-looking dwarf, the resemblance was striking.

She pulled Kravitz into her and Barry’s room and shut the door behind them. “Uh, hi Lup,” said Kravitz. “Hi Barry.” Barry offered him a small wave. He was similarly dressed, expect that he still wore blue jeans over his leotard. “Is something the matter.”

“I thought you should know,” said Lup in a much more serious tone than her outfit conveyed, “That today is the anniversary of our aunt’s death.”

Kravitz was caught off guard. “I’m so sorry. I—I didn’t know.”

She waved away his condolences. “It was a long time ago now,” she said. “And yeah, it still sucks, but I’m able to cope pretty well now.” She paused. “But Taako… not so much.”

“So that’s why he’s so that’s why we’re going to a costume party on a Monday in the middle of winter,” said Kravitz.

Lup nodded. “He’s not great at talking about what’s bothering him… Keep an eye on him tonight. Okay?”

“I will,” said Kravitz earnestly.

Lup smiled at him through her bushy beard. “I know I may have threatened you several times, when you and Taako first started being a thing. I’m not apologizing; I have to look out for my baby bro, but this whole dating my brother thing—you’re kind of crushing it. Good job.”

Kravitz smiled back at her, fairly certain that she had just paid him a compliment, then headed back out into the main area where Taako was checking his makeup in the mirror. He wore a blue button up crop top, black booty shorts, and black boots that reached over his knees. Kravitz didn’t realize that his jaw had literally dropped until he heard Hurley snickering from her perch on Sloane’s lap on the couch.

“You look great,” said Kravitz, catching Taako around the waist and meeting his eyes in the mirror.

“You’re not too shabby yourself, my dude,” said Taako. He patted the handcuffs hanging from his shorts. “I may actually have to use these on you later.”

Taako kissed Kravitz on the cheek leaving behind the distinct red outline of lipsticked lips on his skin before heading toward the door. Kravitz looked after him, only half registering the dumb, lovestruck grin on his own face in the mirror. From the couch, Hurley and Sloane’s giggling had devolved into all out laughter.

…

Taako and Kravitz arrived at the party accompanied by Lup, Barry, Sloane, and Hurley. It was being held in a rickety old house with a lights and music blaring out of the open windows. People were scattered everywhere, bedecked in various costumes, and consuming enormous amounts of alcohol. Kravitz recognized some familiar faces as they made their way into the house. Carey and Killian, a dragonborn and an orc that had been in their dance class, were snuggled drunkenly on a ratty couch that had been abandoned to the front porch, dressed as a thief and a duck, respectively. Sloane and Hurley broke off to join the pair as the rest of them went inside.

Inside of the house was a total shitshow. On the dance floor—a room with a large stereo and a space where the furniture had been pushed out of the way—Kravitz saw a bugbear he assumed to be Klarg, drinking beer out of a tea mug. The bugbear and several other guests were dancing heartily to a song and spilling their drinks all over the floor. A nervous wreck of a man wearing glasses was flitting about with coasters, yelling, “Please, please be careful!” in his nasally voice over the music as he tried and failed to get the partygoers to avoid spilling their drinks. A woman dressed in a robot costume watched him sympathetically from the side of the room.

“Yo, Lucas,” said Taako, catching the nervous man as he walked by, “Do not fret, my dude. The party has finally arrived.”

The man, Lucas, looked from Taako to Lup with an expression of genuine fear in his eyes. “I would really appreciate it if you two could, like, not set anything on fire this time.”

Lup, who had just pulled a few small firecrackers from the pockets of Barry’s jeans, quickly hid them behind her back and smiled at Lucas innocently.

“My mom’s going to kill me if I don’t get my deposit back for the house,” Lucas muttered, exasperated, before dashing off to place a coaster under an unattended drink.

As soon as Lucas left, Lup pulled out the fireworks. “It looks like our reputation precedes us, ‘Ko,” said Lup, looking down at the firecrackers in her hands with a slight frown from behind her fake beard. “If I had known I totes would have brought the bigger ones. I do have a reputation to maintain.” She paused and then looked up the stairs. “C’mon Barry. Let’s go see if that hole I made in the roof is still there or if we’ll have to make a new one.”

Lup and Barry wandered off up the stairs, leaving Taako and Kravitz on the main floor between the dance area and the kitchen. Taako motioned for Kravitz to follow him toward the kitchen. “Ch’boy needs a drink.”

In the kitchen, Taako procured them two mugs—it appeared that Klarg only used tea mugs, and Kravitz amused himself by imagining the hulking bugbear enjoying a cup of oolong—into which he poured a conglomeration of alcohol. He handed one mug to Kravitz, and then said, “Cheers, my dude.”

“Cheers,” said Kravitz, taking a sip. He immediately spluttered and coughed into his mug. “What the hell is this?”

“Hair of the dog,” said Taako, who had effortlessly downed his. “Magnus’s roommate Pringles makes ‘em.”

“Pringles?” asked Kravitz. “That can’t be his real name.”

“He wanted Pringles one time,” said Taako, as if that explained it.

Kravitz didn’t press the matter. He was, he supposed, dating someone who shared a name with a favorite Mexican dish, so who was he to complain?

Taako was already making himself a second drink when Kravitz felt brave enough to give his another try. It went down like a rusty nail, but sent a surprising, but not unwelcome thrill of heat through his body. Taako took a few swigs of his second drink, eyed the amount that was missing, and then topped it off. Kravitz watched, carefully sipping at his own drink. He was fairly certain that this stuff could get even an elf drunk and was about to say something about it, when Taako dipped down into a low curtsy, slopping some of his drink over the sides of his mug.

“Care to dance, mon amie?” asked Taako, faking an accent.

“I suppose I might as well get some use out of that dance class,” said Kravitz with a grin. Dancing would get Taako away from the alcohol, too. He reached out and took the hand the elf was offering.

Taako tugged them toward the room where the music blared. Kravitz might have felt self-conscious about dancing in a mosh pit at a party of his peers, but he had downed about half of his drink by that point and his mind felt sufficiently fuzzy that his inhibitions no longer bothered him.

On the dance floor, Taako pulled Kravitz close as they moved to the music. One of the elf’s hands stayed in the air, holding his mug—which seemed to keep refilling after each time he took a few sips—and the other clutched Kravitz’s hair, pulling his head in close so that their lips met. Their bodies were flush as they moved to the music, and Kravitz honestly thought, as he pressed Taako closer, his hand on the small of the elf’s back, that he could never, no matter how much time they had together, get enough of Taako.

At some point, although Kravitz could not pinpoint when, he and Taako had moved from the dance floor to the wall. Kravtiz had both hands outstretched, palms flat on the wall with Taako between them, their mouths locked together as if each were the air for the other and they would asphyxiate if their connection were broken.

Then later, they were kissing, and groping, and giggling, and fumbling up the stairs. And it wasn’t until the bedroom door of someone’s room closed behind them that Kravitz has the fuzzy realization that he was insanely drunk. And if he was insanely drunk, Taako must be too—for Taako had had at least three more drinks than him, and that estimate was on the low side.

Kravitz, who had closed the door, walked over to the bed and suck down next to Taako, ready to say as much when he realized that Taako was no longer laughing, but crying. Tears streaked silently down the elf’s face, ruining his mascara.

“Taako?” asked Kravitz a little tentatively. His bain still felt a little gummy, but in comparison, he was feeling much more sober now. He wrapped an arm around Taako’s shoulder.

“ _It’ssssstupid_ ,” said Taako, slurring his words together into one.

“It’s not stupid,” said Kravitz, turning himself and Taako so they were face to face. He ran a thumb along Taako’s cheekbone, catching a tear.

“My aunt… _died_ ,” said Taako as though bewildered. “She died _today_ . But not today… shit… it’s been…” He began counting on his fingers, but kept losing track around four. “A lotta _fucking_ years.”

“I’m sorry,” said Kravitz, meaning it. “I know it must still be tough. Lup mentioned—”

At the sound of Lup’s name, Taako broke out into tears again, mixed with a haunting laugh. “Lup and Barry…” he mused. “ _Luuuup and Barold._ They’re dead too. They’re _all_ dead.”

“Umm,” said Kravitz, “I don’t think that’s true. Maybe we should get you to bed.”

Taako’s eyes shone with tears, but he gripped Kravitz’s shoulders and said with a mad laugh, “They’re _lisssshes_!”

“They’re what?” asked Kravitz, trying not to give in to the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He must have misheard. Taako’s drunk. He isn’t speaking properly.

But all of those excuses vanished, when Taako said, more clearly this time, a look of concentration gracing his features. “Liches. L-I-C… _shit_ ,” he began to spell, but trailed off unable to remember through the fog of alcohol.

“Liches?” asked Kravitz jumping to his feet. “Did you say liches?”

“We’ve already determined I can’t spell it out for you, my dude,” said Taako. He laughed again. “ _Isss_ funny, right?” he slurred, looking up at Kravitz with eyes that were clearly having trouble focusing. “They wanted to save our aunt and now they’re dead too.”

“They don’t look like liches,” said Kravitz rationalizing more to himself than to Taako.

“They’re fucking good _lisshes_ ,” said the elf. He tried to stand like Kravitz, got halfway to his feet, and then fell back onto the bed. “I think ch’boy needs a drink.”

“I think,” said Kravitz, trying to keep the tinge of panic from his voice, “ch’boy needs to sleep.”

“Mmm,” said Taako in response, his eyes already closed.

Kravitz sunk down on the bed next to him. Through the closed door, he could still hear the thump of music and he half-wished he could still be down there with the other partygoers. That he and Taako could still be on the dancefloor and Kravitz could still be in the dark about the whole situation.

_Fuck_ , he thought. He was really sucking at this whole grim reaping thing. Not only had the liches been right under his nose this whole time, now that he knew who they were, he was desperately casting about for a reason not to reap them. He looked at the elf, fast asleep on the rocket ship comforter that Kravitz guessed belonged to Lucas. He couldn’t do that to Taako—take the only family he had left. But if he couldn’t reap Lup and Barry, he couldn’t stay here either.

It was a long time before Kravitz moved. He was very aware that this was the last night he was going to spend with Taako and he just couldn’t drag the eyes from his sleeping form. He looked so small and so innocent when asleep, without the usual bravado. Taako had rolled on his side, his long blonde braid splayed out behind him with the wisps that had escaped falling around his face and long pointed ears.

The music had long since stopped by the time Kravitz softly brushed the hair away from Taako’s face and kissed his temple. The sky was beginning to transition from indigo to gray as the sun crept over the horizon, washing the room in cool white light. Kravitz stood back from the bed and materialized his scythe. He cut a tear through the room, stepped through it, and closed it behind him, leaving Taako asleep and unaware.

...

Kravitz stepped out of the portal into his own dorm room, feeling bone tired. He was half considering sleeping for a few hours and then leaving later—Taako had drunk a lot, he would surely be out for a few more hours at least—when he realized he was not alone in the room. Perched on the back of his desk chair was a large black raven. Kravitz did a double take and then sunk into a low bow. “My queen.”

“Kravitz dear,” said the Raven Queen through the mouth of the raven she had possessed, “How have you been? It’s been ages.”

“Oh, you know,” said Kravitz, forcing a grin he did not feel, “Same old. How are you doing, my queen?”

“Desperately busy, my dear,” she said with a sigh, “We’re a bit short staffed at the moment, and good reapers are so hard to find these days. But, anyway, give me some good news. How goes your foray into school life. Any new developments?” she asked, cocking her raven head from Taako’s bed—barely recognizable as a bed anymore due to the fact that it had been corralled into an additional wardrobe—to Kravitz’s, which was sporting two pillows.

Kravitz felt himself flush a little, wondering if the Raven Queen could tell he was in a relationship. _Emphasis on_ was _,_ thought Kravitz miserably. “Nope,” he said, “Just working on the case.”

“Ah yes,” said the raven. She hesitated—well as much as a bird could seem as if they were hesitating—then said, “Is everything all right? This bounty is seeming to take you an exceptionally long time, dear.”

“I think I’ve got a new lead on the liches,” said Kravitz. He opened his mouth to tell her, untruthfully, that they had moved on from the college campus and that he needed to travel to the other side of Faerun to continue his search—anything to get him away from Lup and Barry while he formulated a plan of how to not reap them. But before he could vocalize this, the raven’s eyes lit up and she cawed happily.

“Excellent!” she said. “Perhaps you’ve already heard this then, but I came here to give you a new lead. There’s new member of the Astral Plane who says he was murdered by liches right on this very college campus!”

Kravitz looked at her, dumbstruck. The Raven Queen was perhaps the only being Kravitz knew who could utter a sentence like that with such glee. He resigned himself to the fact that he was staying here and resolved to think of a new plan. “Thank you, my queen. Any information is appreciated.”

“You’re welcome, Kravitz dear,” said the Raven. “I think you’ll have those liches reaped in no time, don’t you?” The bird spread her wings and took flight, making a lap around the room. Kravitz opened the window for her and she said, on her way out, “Next time you visit wear that sweater you got for Candlenights. It would make Istus quite happy.”

And with that, she was gone. Kravitz slumped back onto his bed, his head in his hands.

At the same moment, the door to the dorm room creaked open revealing Taako in the hallway. _Shit,_ thought Kravitz. How much had he heard? Fresh tears wet his eyes, but they weren’t the same drunken tears Kravitz had seen earlier that night. These were tears of anger. He very much had the look of an elf who had just heard everything.

“Taako I—” said Kravitz, but he was cut off.

“Here I was,” said Taako, “Coming to apologize for my weird-as-fuck family and thank you for being so cool with the lich thing. I _burned a spell slot_ to get here fast cause, like, I saw you leave through that crazy portal thing and was afraid you’d _leave_ leave. And here you were already selling the souls of _Lup and Barry_ _to the highest bidder._ ”

“Taako I wasn’t—just let me explain,” began Kravitz.

“Explain that you’re here to reap liches? That you only dated me to get close to my family? That you’ve been lying to me since we met?”

Kravitz opened his mouth and then closed it again. It was true, wasn’t it? He was here to reap liches and he had deliberately kept that information from Taako. Of course, he hadn’t known Lup and Barry were liches at the time. He had no idea his actual job would affect Taako in any way.

“I admit,” said Kravitz, feeling defeated, “That I haven’t been entirely truthful since we’ve met, but you have to believe me when I say that I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“Except, you know,” said Taako, “Talking to your mafia boss about _reaping_ my sister and her boyfriend.”

“I don’t _want_ to do that,” said Kravitz desperately. “I _want_ to find another way to solve this.”

“ _Want_ and _won’t_ are two different things, my dude,” said Taako, who had pulled his wand out of his pocket and was fiddling with it. Kravitz didn’t move to call his scythe to him. He didn’t want to fight with Taako. “Lup, Barry, and I are leaving. Don’t follow us.” And with that he whipped his wand around and cast a very powerful version of the spell, sleep.

“Taako,” said Kravitz. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton as he tried to form words. “Please. Don’t go.” And then he slumped back on his bed, fast asleep.


End file.
